Continued agricultural cooperation and increasing two-way agriculture trade and investment will be integral to the future economic development of our respective countries.
To increase agricultural, fisheries and forestry trade between Australia and Vietnam, the two countries will cooperate on agri-business development and facilitate access to each other’s domestic markets by negotiating biosecurity protocols and related trading conditions that are risk-based and underpinned by sound science consistent with international obligations. Each country will also work towards removing existing barriers to trade and encouraging two-way investment, including Vietnamese investment into Australia’s growing agribusiness and food sector.
The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), building upon its long-standing research program and collaborative stakeholder networks, will continue to deepen Vietnamese and Australian agricultural engagement through research partnerships that advance the prosperity of Vietnam’s rural industries and livelihoods, as well as inclusion and equality.
Facilitate market access
Through the Vietnam Australia Agriculture Forum (VAAF), which is the key mechanism for senior officials to engage on agricultural issues, Australia and Vietnam will pursue constructive dialogue on trade and market access requests.
The three working groups supporting the VAAF: Vietnam-Australia Animal and Seafood Market Access Working Group, Vietnam-Australia Plant Market Access Working Group and Vietnam-Australia Policy and Technical Assistance Working Group help take forward technical issues that underpin market access and capacity building.
Australia will deliver capacity building programs to Vietnam to support and facilitate its market access requests, including to ensure that Vietnamese businesses can best meet Australia’s import conditions.
Work together to expedite bilateral market access negotiations, enhance intergovernmental collaboration, and forge stronger commercial ties
Key initiatives- Vietnam to prioritise market access negotiations for Australian peaches, nectarines, blueberries, plums, honey, white offal, kangaroo, and deer meat into Vietnam.
- Australia to prioritise market access negotiations for fresh passion fruit, rambutan, star apple and whole shrimp from Vietnam.
- Vietnam and Australia to collaborate on e-certification to increase mutual acceptance of electronic documentation.
- Expand wine trade between Australia and Vietnam through Vietnam’s commitment to participate in the World Wine Group, remove pre-registration and self-assessment requirements, ease advertising restrictions and reform of its luxury tax regime.
- Expand Australian rural commodity exports to Vietnam through technical market development partnerships focused on Vietnamese agribusiness supply chains, including product assurance, safety, quality, integrity and supply-chain resilience.
- Australia to assist Vietnam to simplify government regulations for approvals, including for food imports and food labelling requirements.
- Australia to support Vietnam’s feedlot industry to align with international best practice, uphold animal welfare practices and improve product competitiveness, including through new capacity building initiatives.
- Australia to support Vietnam’s development of legal export chains for forestry products manufactured using imported Australian raw wood.
- Vietnam and Australia cooperate and promote Vietnam and Southeast Asian phytosanitary irradiation pathways, including through capacity building initiatives.
- Australia to support Vietnam’s on-farm responses and laboratory testing capacity through delivery of prawn and aquatic animal disease capacity building programs.
- Australia to support Vietnam’s surveillance and diagnostics of plant pests through delivery of plant biosecurity capacity building projects.
- Australia and Vietnam to continue cooperation on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices through the Regional Plan of Action to Promote Sustainable Fishing including IUU Fishing; the Viet Nam-Australia MoU to Combat Illegal Fishing; and Australia’s regional program Combating IUU Fishing and Promoting Sustainable Fisheries in Southeast Asia, which will provide opportunities for Vietnam to access capacity building support for monitoring, control and surveillance officers.
- Australia to undertake a study to assess the value of Australia-Vietnam agribusiness supply chains.
- Australia and Vietnam to hold an Agri-business Forum to foster commercial ties and partnerships and provide opportunities for agri-business investment.
- Vietnam and Australia to collaborate in high-tech agriculture, including through Australian farms visits.
- Australia and Vietnam to undertake bilateral farmer delegations between Vietnam and Australia to share technical knowledge in key sectors such as dairy, red meat and cattle.
- Australia, in consultation with Vietnam, to support the development of a bilateral investment Blueprint for Action for the Australian and Vietnamese cattle sectors.
- Australian to support a pilot project to build links between Australian and Vietnamese temperate fruit sectors, to grow fruit categories for the benefit of both countries, as counter seasonal suppliers.
- Australia to continue to support the social and economic empowerment of Vietnamese women farmers in agricultural value chains, through the Aus4Equality investment.
- Australia will prioritise negotiations with Vietnam on its interest in becoming an early participant country in the Australian agriculture visa, including bilateral arrangements for implementation to build on past and existing cooperation and ensure, among others, the protection of Vietnamese workers and upholding of Australian labour standards.
- Australia will prioritise the assessment of Vietnam’s proposed alternative treatments to glyphosate for the purposes of devitalising propagatable fresh cut flowers and foliage, consistent with equivalent efficacy, safety and availability for on-arrival use as is provided by glyphosate.
- Australia supports livelihood development programs for Vietnamese farmers to gradually transition from conventional agriculture to sustainable agriculture.
Strengthen water security and management
Australia and Vietnam will cooperate to strengthen capacity in river basin management, water resource planning, irrigation management and climate-resilient water infrastructure design and operation, and will share management experiences, aimed at improved water security.
Cooperate to strengthen water security and respond to climate change
Key initiatives- Vietnam and Australia to build upon existing cooperation under Australia’s former Greater Mekong Water Resources Program, through Australia’s new Water Energy Climate Program and the Water for Women Fund, including providing technical assistance, and deploying expertise via the Australian Water Partnership.
- Australia to support the establishment of a virtual trading platform to connect Australian and Vietnamese water sectors to build and strengthen enterprise partnerships in water technology innovation and services.
- Australia to support the Water Efficiency Improvement in Drought Affected Provinces project (WEIDAP) to reduce drought in Vietnam’s Central Highlands provinces.
- Australia and Vietnam to cooperate to assist Vietnam to respond to the impacts of climate change, and develop sustainable agriculture practices.
- Australia to continue support for enabling sustainable socioeconomic growth of the agriculture sector through the application of innovative science and technology, through the Aus4Innovation investment.
- Australia to provide support to Vietnam on its National Water Resources Planning.