(IARN) 
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack recently participated in the G-7 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting in Japan. Trade was one of many topics of conversation, and Vilsack talked about trade with the ag ministers of Vietnam and Japan.
“In Vietnam, I had the chance to talk about the importance of expanding access to trade or citrus and stone fruits, and also the opportunity for us to provide technical assistance to the Vietnamese government as they are modernizing their regulatory system, which should enable trade between our two countries to be facilitated over time,” Vilsack said. “They are our eighth- or ninth-largest trading partner at this point but have expressed a real interest in continuing to further and strengthen that relationship.”
Vilsack said Vietnam is working on developing a vaccine for African Swine Fever.
“Excited about the work that they’re doing on African Swine Fever and the vaccine, which our folks at ARS are working on as well,” Vilsack said. “They will continue to work with us and, at some point in time, I suspect that we’ll probably try to figure out ways in which an effective can be commercialized.”
Vilsack also discussed expanding access for more American commodities into the Japanese market.
“And Japan, I talked about the importance of continued expansion of access for our potato and apple crops, celebrated the expansion of ethanol opportunities in Japan, and announced the opportunity that the Japanese minister and I agreed to in establishing an ongoing sustainable dialogue, similar the dialogue that we have with the EU,” Vilsack said. “This will be a regular cadence of contact and communication between my department and his ministry to promote sustainable agricultural production in both countries.”
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