Latest news with #agrifood
Malay Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Strengthening Vietnam-US business partnership in the agricultural sector: Towards sustainable development and trade balance
WASHINGTON D.C, USA - Media OutReach Newswire - 1 June 2025 - Vietnam's Minister of Agriculture and Environment Do Duc Duy plans to lead a delegation with nearly 50 agencies, agribusinesses and associations to explore opportunities to promote trade and import agrifood and timber from the United States during June 1-7, 2025. The delegation expects to participate in business dialogues in Iowa, Ohio, and Washington D.C. Vietnamese agribusinesses are ready to seek U.S. partners to purchase US commodities such as animal feed, fertilizers, biopesticides, meat products, frozen marine seafood, and raw visit aims to boost bilateral trade and create new opportunities for Vietnam to import more agrifood and timber from the U.S., helping to balance trade between the two countries. Besides trade, the Vietnamese delegation expects to access to new technologies, hence improving the competitiveness of their own value to Minister Do Duc Duy, both Vietnam and the U.S. have strong agricultural sectors, but their strengths complement rather than compete with each other. "With active support of both Vietnam and US government, Vietnam's and US's agriculture have been increasingly connected. Even we're now sharing the same supply chains, boosting our competitiveness, thereby supporting both producers and consumers in each country". The Minister emphasized, "Vietnamese agribusinesses have cooperated strongly with the Government to increase the purchase of agrifood and timber products from the U.S. This effort helps balance bilateral trade and strengthens the agricultural supply chain between the two countries, hence contributing to global food security."Earlier, in September 2024, the largest U.S. agribusiness delegation in history visited Hanoi to mark the one-year anniversary of the Vietnam–US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Led by USDA Deputy Secretary Alexis Taylor, the delegation was consisted of representatives from nine state governments, 35 businesses, and 25 major industry associations. Their visit underscored the growing interest of U.S. businesses in Vietnam boosting trade, both countries work to build inclusive development, enhance rural resilience, and promote sustainable production and clean energy. A key highlight is the "International Year of Women Farmers 2026" initiative, co-led by the U.S. and Vietnam and adopted by a United Nations resolution in May 2024. Following the resolution, Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Environment partnered with the U.S. Mission to ASEAN and the USDA to launch the initiative with a series of events. As part of the program, two American female farmers – Jennifer Schmidt and Jaclyn Wilson – traveled to Southeast Asia to engage with other female farmers, with Vietnam as their first American consumers increasingly choose Vietnamese agrifood, especially spices, fruits, seafood, and furniture. Meanwhile, Vietnamese producers rely more on U.S. imports, including cornmeal, soybeans, meat, dairy, lumber, livestock equipment, and farmers are enhanced with better skills and knowledge to adopt advanced American technologies to boost production, improve produce quality and protect the environment. High-quality materials and cutting-edge technologies from the U.S. are helping Vietnam build more competitive and sustainable supply agriculture continues to deepen partnerships with U.S. stakeholders, from federal and state governments to associations and businesses. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has signed multiple agreements with U.S. authorities and state governments. Vietnamese agribusinesses have signed 18 Memorandums of Understanding since 2020 to purchase agrifood from the U.S., totaling 6 billion USD, with half already the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has created favorable conditions for U.S. agricultural exporters to enter the Vietnam market. Vietnam has completed registration procedures for 509 meat and meat exporters and 232 seafood exporters from US to Vietnam; no backlog remains to be processed. Both countries are actively working to open their fruit markets to each other, enabling exporters to reach new customers and for consumers to enjoy the distinctive flavors of both tropical and temperate is also among the first eight Asian countries to approve biotechnology-based plant seeds from the U.S. So far, it has approved all 61 biotechnology applications dossiers submitted by U.S. companies. The two sides have also agreed on transparent and practical methods, procedures, and protocols for animal and plant quarantine. These agreements help pave the way for the development of the agrifood markets in both countries. In addition, the new Decree 73/2025/ND-CP, effective from March 31, 2025, cuts import tarriff to 0% for agrifood products that US has strong competiveness. As a result, agricultural exports from both sides have grown steadily, by around 10% annually over the past visit of Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Environment delegation to the U.S. in June 2025 reflects Vietnam's strong commitment to building trust and strengthening strategic partnerships by promoting the shared agricultural supply chains of the two countries. The visit also aims to deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership as the two countries celebrate 30 years of diplomatic an interview with Vietnamese press, the USDA emphasized: "Any agricultural trade imbalances are largely sector-specific and influenced by factors such as regulations, consumer demand, and supply chain dynamics. Ensuring reciprocal market access and reducing tariffs remain top priorities to sustain long-term trade growth."Dr. Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, General Director of the International Cooperation Department under Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, expressed concern over President Trump administration's announcement of a 10% tariff from April 2, 2025, and the potential for a 46% reciprocal tariff on Vietnamese exports from July 9, 2025. This tarriff imposition has alarmed not only Vietnamese exporters but also American Tuan explained: "Beyond shrinking profit margins and weakening business competitiveness on both sides, higher reciprocal tariffs will raise prices for essential food products in the U.S. This action not only hurts American consumers but also potentially disrupts the supply chain that both governments and private sectors of both sides have worked hard to build in recent years. Agrifood is a necessity goods, and hiking price of agrifood will significantly burden American average-income households." The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
LBCI
26-05-2025
- General
- LBCI
UN assessment shows less than 5% of Gaza's cropland is useable
Less than 5% of Gaza's cropland can be cultivated due to damage and access restrictions, "exacerbating the risk of famine in the area," according to a U.N. assessment published on Monday. "This level of destruction is not just a loss of infrastructure – it is a collapse of Gaza's agrifood system and of lifelines," said Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization which produced the assessment alongside the U.N. Satellite Centre.
Asharq Al-Awsat
26-05-2025
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Less Than 5% of Gaza's Cropland Is Useable, UN Assessment Shows
Less than 5% of Gaza's cropland can be cultivated due to damage and access restrictions, "exacerbating the risk of famine in the area", according to a UN assessment published on Monday. "This level of destruction is not just a loss of infrastructure – it is a collapse of Gaza's agrifood system and of lifelines," said Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization which produced the assessment alongside the UN Satellite Center. Before the Israel-Hamas war began over 19 months ago, Gazan farmers cultivated a range of crops including citrus fruits, dates and olives, despite the area being among the most densely populated in the world. Now, half a million people face starvation, according to a global hunger monitor, amid Israeli restrictions on food imports after an 11-week blockade. In total, just 688 hectares, or 4.6% of the total, is available for cultivation, the UN assessment said. It showed that more than 80% of Gaza's cropland had been damaged in the war. A total of 77.8% is not accessible, the statement said, based on a UN assessment of Israeli restricted sites and evacuation orders. The report found that nearly three-quarters of greenhouses had been damaged in the war and over 80% of wells, according to the assessment based on high-resolution satellite imagery. It described the situation as "particularly critical" in the southern area of Rafah and in the northern areas where nearly all cropland is inaccessible, the statement said.
The Guardian
20-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
‘We've moved on': Northern Irish firms give muted welcome to UK-EU deal
The UK's trade deal with the European Union is expected to smooth trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but for some businesses in the latter it no longer matters, as they have ditched British suppliers. 'Overall the deal is welcome but we're indifferent,' said Peter Bradley, a director of the Mid-Ulster Garden Centre. 'We give our business now to Dutch, Italian and Republic of Ireland companies. We've got into a nice pattern and rhythm, post-Brexit, and British suppliers have almost become unnecessary.' The comment underlined that some changes to Northern Ireland's economy will endure despite Keir Starmer's announcement on Monday of a 'win-win' reset deal with Brussels. The promise to soften the post-Brexit Irish Sea border by reducing checks on agrifood products going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland met with a broad welcome from business owners, farmers and politiciansin the region and the Republic of Ireland. However, for companies such as the Mid-Ulster Garden Centre that have successfully adapted their supply chains, the deal may not matter. The Maghera-based family-owned business previously sourced 10% of plants and trees from Great Britain, but that fell to zero after Brexit, which left Northern Ireland in the EU market for goods and complicated trade with Great Britain. 'It'll make very little difference because we're already very comfortable with whom we source from – the Dutch, the Italians, the Republic [of Ireland] as well as Northern Ireland suppliers,' Bradley said. Brexit had done 'irreparable damage', he said. 'We've moved on. We've got alternatives, and we're content and doing well.' The deal, hailed as a 'new chapter' in relations between London and Brussels, encompasses fishing, youth visas and travel rules, and removes agrifood trade restrictions, which Starmer said would give a £9bn boost to the UK economy. Business and political leaders in Northern Ireland welcomed the lifting of the need for health and veterinary certification, known as sanitary and phtyosanitary checks (SPS), on farm products ranging from fresh meat and dairy produce to vegetables, timber, wool and leather. William Irvine, the Ulster Farmers' Union president, called it a significant breakthrough that would give certainty to the agrifood sector. 'An end to burdensome SPS paperwork, removal of checks on goods moving to Northern Ireland, inclusion of secondhand machinery, progress on the movement of live cattle, pesticide regulations and rules on organics – these are all key wins,' he said. While British and EU negotiators spend the coming months working on details, the Windsor framework, which tweaked the Brexit arrangements that created the Irish Sea trade border, will continue to apply in Northern Ireland to areas not covered by the deal. Suzanne Wylie, the head of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the deal would not solve every problem but was a step in the right direction. 'Local businesses will take time to analyse the detail as and when it emerges.' The Irish government and most of Northern Ireland's political parties welcomed the deal but the Democratic Unionist party said it was too early for a definitive judgment and that it would form a view through the 'prism' of Northern Ireland's place in the UK.
Telegraph
19-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
This EU ‘reset' deal is far worse than even I feared. Tories must now start unravelling it
I wrote on Saturday about the sorry history leading to Monday's summit meeting with the EU. Well, now we have Starmer's deal, and it's even worse than I thought. As usual, the EU played hardball. While the British entry to Eurovision was sinking fast on Saturday night, so too was Starmer's reset balloon, and the British team started chucking most of their negotiating ballast over the side in a desperate effort to keep it afloat. We'll certainly remember this Monday. So what the hell just happened? Five bad things. First, and despite Labour's manifesto commitment to the contrary, we are rejoining the single market for agrifood. We must apply EU laws in our farming and food sectors, in all companies and farms, whether they trade with the EU or not, and EU courts will have the final say on disputes. Labour seems to believe our food trade has collapsed and their deal will help. They simply don't understand what's going on. Reclassification, trade diversion, substitution of cheaper non-EU goods on our market, even the weather, all this is more important to the trade figures than trading paperwork. Labour seem to think the British economic renaissance is going to be rebuilt on minor changes to a food and drink trade that amounts to 2-3 per cent of our exports, yet if they really believed this, why are they killing family farms and making them farm solar panels? The actual effect of this deal will be to make it much easier for the EU, a much bigger, more successful, more diverse, and more expensive agricultural producer, to export to us. Second, it commits us to joining the single market for electricity, the EU's carbon trading scheme, and their scheme to put tariffs on carbon-unfriendly goods, the so-called CBAMs. You may think that energy prices are high enough already, but watch this space, because the EU's carbon price is 50 per cent higher than ours. Worse still, we commit to net zero obligations 'at least as ambitious as the EU'. Want to get out of net zero? Tough: you can't, unless the EU agrees. Third, we've abandoned control of our fishing grounds – otherwise coming back in full next year – until the incredible date of 2038. The UK originally asked for four years and thought the EU might accept six or seven. We finally agreed to 12. Brilliant stuff. I'm reminded of Churchill's wry comment on his dreadnought-building programme: 'The Admiralty demanded six ships; the economists offered four; and we finally compromised on eight.' This agreement destroys the prospect of rebuilding the fishing industry with our own fish stocks. Labour have promised a recovery fund, but more taxpayers' money is not what the industry needs and it is not the same as building a productive fishing industry catching and selling a product that people want. Labour have been tin-eared to our coastal communities and they will pay the price. Fourth, there will be a youth mobility scheme. It's rebranded a youth 'experience' scheme but the text makes clear that it's for people volunteering 'or simply travelling' (can't they do this already?) There is no commitment to a cap on numbers, merely that the 'overall number of participants is acceptable to both sides'. Who can have confidence Labour would be tough here? Let's hope they don't move their fisheries negotiator to youth mobility. And finally, we have to pay. A fee for the right to be governed by the EU on agrifood. Another fee to accept their energy and net zero rules. And a fee to rejoin the Erasmus student scheme. This used to cost us about £150 million a year, and certainly will do so again in future, because we always get more EU students here than we send to Europe, since we have the best universities and the English language. I'm not against EU students coming here, but why can't the EU pay for them, just as we pay for our students abroad under the Turing scheme? But no: soon we will be paying for both. All this seems to have been paid to get a security and defence agreement which doesn't contain much of either of those things, merely a long list of meetings we get, or might get, to attend. The text even says it is 'based on dialogue and consultation mechanisms to facilitate the exchange of information'. Not exactly Nato, and so much the better for it, of course – but why have we paid so much to get it? And as for the much-vaunted deal on e-gates at airports, the text provides only for 'exchanges' about 'the potential use of eGates where appropriate.' In many EU airports the 'potential' is already actual, and elsewhere – who knows? In short: this deal concedes important British interests for very little in return. It begins the process of bit by bit bringing this country back into the embrace of the single market and customs union. The Conservatives are right to commit to returning these powers to Britain, and Reform is even more right to say that the Windsor Framework and other EU law relics must be scrapped too. All that will take some work. What we have today is a political agreement. The legal texts will take months to sort out. Many important points have simply been put off and Labour are bound to concede even more on the detail. Labour's Red Wall voters, if there are any left, are not going to be happy. But the Tories, as the main parliamentary force, must put the work in with real energy and harry Labour every step of the way, in parliament and outside – and then work out a proper plan to take the powers back, and more, in future. Labour don't care, of course, about what they have conceded. Their main aim is just to get closer to the EU again. The EU are ruthless: they will happily mouth warm words without letting it deflect them from pursuing their interests. But Labour just can't let go of their former partner. Their affections for Brussels are as warm as ever. But it won't help them and it will only do harm to this country. We should have realised what was going on last Saturday night – when the Austrians won Eurovision with 'Wasted Love'. This country will pay the price for it. Lord Frost was Chief Negotiator for exiting the European Union and then a Cabinet minister under the Boris Johnson government from 2019 to 2021. A former diplomat, he was appointed to the House of Lords in 2020 You can watch Lord Frost discuss this subject with Tim Stanley and Kamal Ahmed on today's Daily T podcast here. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts
