Sesame and Perilla Association Cooperates with Vietnam on Production and Supply
The Korea Sesame & Perilla Association has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Hung Nguyen Agricultural Production, Food Processing, and Crop Distribution Cooperative (hereinafter referred to as the Hung Nguyen Cooperative) in Nghe An Province, Vietnam, to cooperate on the production, supply, and distribution of sesame seeds. According to the Association, this agreement was pursued as part of the "Vietnam Sesame Capacity Building and Value Chain Strengthening Project," an Official Development Assistance (ODA) initiative in the Vietnamese agricultural sector supported by the Korean government. The purpose of the project is to enhance Vietnam's sesame production capacity and strengthen linkages between production, processing, and distribution. Cooperation plans were discussed with officials from the Hung Nguyen Cooperative, who recently visited Korea, in collaboration with the Vietnam National Agricultural Promotion Center. Accordingly, the Association agreed to cooperate by providing sales channels and ensuring continuous procurement of sesame seeds produced by the Hung Nguyen Cooperative, provided that the seeds meet domestic quality and pesticide residue inspection standards. The MOU is valid for five years, starting this year. Specifically, both parties agreed to finalize their cooperation methods prior to the start of new planting to reflect the requirements of the Korean market from the sesame production stage. The key points of the agreement are that the Sesame and Perilla Association will provide guidance to Vietnam on quality and pesticide residue inspection standards as well as import customs procedures, while the Hung Nguyen Cooperative will cultivate sesame in compliance with Korea's Food Sanitation Act and the Positive List System (PLS) to harvest and supply it according to the specifications and quantities required by the Sesame and Perilla Association. Park Eon-gi, President of the Sesame and Perilla Association, stated, "I hope that this agreement will serve as an opportunity to expand cooperation with Vietnam not only in the sesame sector but also in the perilla sector," adding, "In particular, I hope that superior domestic varieties will be linked to Vietnam's ODA projects, leading to future seed exports." Meanwhile, the Sesame and Perilla Association signed a business agreement with Hwasan Gajwa Agricultural Cooperative Corporation in Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do last May with the goal of establishing a stable production and distribution base for domestic sesame. Recently, the association purchased 1.2 tons of domestic sesame produced in the Haenam region through the cooperative, contributing to expanding sales channels and stabilizing income for farmers.
Source: https://www.agrinet.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=408053