VietNamNet Bridge – The Government has been called on to improve the efficiency and hygiene of traditional markets by promptly issuing standardised regulations and guidance for vendors.

Mai Thi Anh Tuyet, director of southern An Giang Province's Industry and Trade Department, said that besides building modern food supply chains through supermarkets, ensuring food safety and hygiene in traditional markets by issuing standards was vitally important.

"Currently, the industry and trade department have to set their own standards, leading to much confusion when classifying products and arranging booths and stalls", she said.

It was necessary to have co-operation between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Health to set consistent standards in building "safe markets", she added.

Director of southern Ben Tre Province's Industry and Trade Department Truong Minh Nhut said the provincial authorities supported the construction of safe markets as traditional markets often fall short of consumers' expectations for food quality and hygiene.

The province has been trying to complete a pilot project of traditional market standardisation, so that it can soon be implemented, and if successful, multiplied, he said.

Tran Thi Ly, a resident in District No 1 of HCM City, said, "Housewives often buy food from traditional markets over supermarkets because the products sold in markets are fresher and more diversified. However, consumers rarely know the origins of the products."

It is expected that consumers would applaud the safe market model whereby food is displayed in clean stalls with guarantees on quality.

"Currently, facilities in most traditional markets are out of date. Many markets are set up spontaneously in lanes or on streets, near residential areas", Pham Thi Lien from Ha Noi City's Dong Da District said.

"Therefore, the markets must satisfy environmental and security standards," Lien added.

Nguyen Phuong Ngan, a resident in Hoan Kiem District, said food quality was always her main concern when going to market. She expressed hope that products sold in safe markets would be checked and quarantined more carefully.
However, the competitiveness of products sold in the proposed "safe markets" is a concern for sellers.

Nguyen Xuan Canh, a vegetable grower in HCM City, worries that to ensure the quality of vegetables supplied to safe markets without using preservative chemicals, farmers would have to pay more labour costs, causing production prices to increase. Therefore, vegetables in the standardized markets would probably be more expensive than those sold outside.

Higher prices would lead to lower levels of consumption, he said.

The head of southern Ben Tre province's market management board Thai Van Be is also afraid of the fact that consumers' preference for cheaper products could make the model unrealistic.

"Consumers must be well informed so that their awareness of buying qualified and hygienic food is up to date," Be said.

VietNamNet/VNS