The Hanoi Times - Vietnam has successfully achieved initial requirements in the implementation, obligation and commitment set forth by the technology barriers to trade (TBT) agreement, said Deputy Director General of Vietnamese Directorate for Standards and Quality(STAMEQ) Vu Van Dien.
Many domestic enterprises have taken the initiative to seek out and learn the relevant information about the TBT, as well as ways to cope with difficulties and obstacles in the export market, Dien told representatives at the three-year TBT project implementation status conference held by the Ministry of Science and Technology in Ha Noi yesterday.
Nearly 5,350 national standards, 3,000 sector standards and 170 verification processes have been completed to evaluate their conformity to State demands on standard, quality and business production, as well as their harmonisation with international standards.
The rate of national standards which coincide with international and regional standards has increased from 25 per cent in 2005 to 34 per cent in 2008.
Dien said that nearly 6,000 enterprises have been granted certificates of ISO 9001, 14,000, 22,000, and SA 8000. More than 500 State administrative agencies have earned ISO 9001certification.
USAID Representative Frank Donovan said
Dien said that although the country had made significant strides, implementation and support for the project in some localities were facing difficulties due to lack of close co-ordination among relevant agencies. Management agencies focused on checking off boxes in the implementation process as required, rather than using the project to study methods to improve and protect production and domestic consumption.
Co-ordination between enterprises and State agencies on improving knowledge and coping with TBT is still weak, said Dien.
To improve the project’s effects in the future, Dien said the Ministry of Science and Technology would co-ordinate with relevant ministries, sectors and localities to build and apply TBT methods for enterprises. This course of action would contribute to the Government’s efforts to reduce inflation and the trade deficit, boost export and meet social security targets.
The ministry plans to study and carefully manage domestic goods production and imported goods in accordance with WTO regulations while still protecting the interests of domestic production and consumption.
At the conference, representatives from localities indicated that enterprises were aware of basic TBT agreement content as well as the difficulties associated with implementation. From this basic knowledge they built a plan to improve production and trade in the integration process.
They made a proposal to the Vietnam TBT Office, Ministry of Science and Technology and STAMEQ to issue a guiding document related to TBT agreement application for improving enterprise competitiveness capacity.
They also stressed that it was necessary to strengthen information and dissemination and improve knowledge for staff in localities, particularly in IT and foreign languages.
Yesterday STAMEQ launched the world’s first interactive handbook on standards, metrics, conformity assessment and the TBT agreement.
The expectation is that
The handbook provides information for government, businesses and consumers throughout every province in
"What Viet Nam has already done in terms of meeting WTO TBT requirements far exceeds what other countries have achieved in the same amount of time," said Ed Nemeroff, senior technical advisor for the TBT handbook.
"The number of mutual recognition agreements already signed with
The TBT handbook is available from the USAID-funded Star Vietnam project www.starvietnam.org and the Vietnam TBT Office www.tbtvn.org websites in English and Vietnamese.
