Continuing to integrate Vietnam's dairy industry into the global community

On August 6, 2015, in Ho Chi Minh City, the Vietnam Dairy Association (VDA) held its 2nd Congress (term 2015-2020). At the Congress, VDA summarized its activities for the 2010-2015 term and outlined its activities for the 2015-2020 term, and elected the 2nd Executive Committee.

Speaking at the opening of the Congress, Ms. Mai Kieu Lien - President of the Vietnam Dairy Association said: "To contribute to the implementation of the common goal of the Vietnamese dairy industry in the period of promoting industrialization and modernization of the country, responding to the year of food safety launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2015, the policy of developing agriculture - exporting agricultural, forestry and fishery products, the national food safety management strategy, today the Vietnam Dairy Association holds the second congress of delegates for the 2015 - 2020 term to report and evaluate what has been done and what has not been done, discuss directions and solutions to overcome in the next term with the aim of promoting the milk processing industry and dairy farming in Vietnam to be on par with the region and the world in terms of productivity, quality, and price so that enterprises in the Association can improve their competitiveness and carry out their production and business tasks effectively".

View of Vietnam Dairy Association Congress

In recent years, the Vietnamese dairy industry has been one of the consumer goods industries with good growth and still has a lot of potential for development. According to the General Statistics Office, in the past 5 years, the number of dairy cows has increased by an average of 14% per year and reached nearly 230,000 in early 2015. The rapid growth of the Vietnamese dairy herd demonstrates the important promotion and contribution of milk processing enterprises in the Association.

HHSVN is a social, professional, voluntary organization of organizations and individuals operating in the field of food safety science and technology or related to food safety. Currently, the total number of members of the Milk Association is 80, including 76 official members and 05 associate members.

During the 2010 - 2015 term, HHSVN has focused on monitoring the production and business activities of the dairy industry in general and of the members of the Dairy Association in particular, thereby grasping the needs and opinions of dairy enterprises to reflect to state management agencies. The Dairy Association has closely monitored and maintained relations with state management agencies to learn about the procedures and time of promulgation of legal documents related to the dairy industry to make recommendations on the contents of state management documents. Specifically: Decision of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on promulgating a list of goods not encouraged to import, including some dairy products and raw milk; Giving opinions to the Ministry of Health, the Department of Food Safety on draft circulars on food labeling, food quality inspection and supervision, technical regulations for liquid milk and formula foods for young children, etc.

Mr. Tran Quang Trung - Vice President of Vietnam Dairy Association, former Director of the Department of Food Safety and Hygiene (speaking) was elected by the Executive Committee of Term II (term 2015 - 2020) as President of Vietnam Dairy Association.

HHSVN has also proactively and actively participated in legal propaganda, collecting and processing information from businesses and association members to have timely and accurate information. Coordinated with press and radio agencies to answer questions and incorrect rumors in public opinion about production, business, product quality, labeling or advertising in the milk market in Vietnam and internationally.

In particular, the Dairy Association has intervened in many cases to clarify false information that negatively affects consumers' awareness and psychology of the dairy industry. In these activities, the Dairy Association has closely coordinated with state management agencies such as the Department of Food Safety of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Department of Livestock Production and the Department of Veterinary Medicine of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as other associations such as the Association of TC and BVNTD, the Association of Livestock Production, the Association of Science and Technology for Food Safety, etc.

HHSVN strives to promote the implementation of the main goal of the Vietnam Dairy Industry Development Plan to 2020, with a vision to 2025 (set forth by the Ministry of Industry and Trade): In 2015, the whole country produced 1.9 billion liters of fresh milk, this output increased to 2.6 billion liters in 2020 and 3.4 billion liters by 2025; Milk consumption reached an average of 21 liters/person/year in 2015, 27 liters/person in 2020 and reached 34 liters/person by 2025; Domestic fresh milk production reached 660 million liters, meeting 35% of demand by 2015, 1 billion liters meeting 38% of demand by 2020 and 1.4 billion liters meeting 40% of demand by 2025.

The Executive Committee of the 2nd term (2015-2020) of the Vietnam Dairy Association was introduced to the Congress.

In the next term, HHSVN strives to build the Dairy Association into a strong Association, gathering the majority of dairy production and processing enterprises in Vietnam, gathering typical representatives of management organizations, enterprises, socio-political organizations, research and training agencies to have a strong team of members with qualifications, specialized knowledge, united to serve the development of the industry and the country's economy, further promoting the creative power of young intellectuals who grasp modern science and technology, representing and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of members, actively contributing to food safety management, worthy of the trust of domestic consumers in Vietnamese dairy products.

Quynh Trang