South Korea has won approval to export heat treated poultry products to Vietnam under a new bilateral agreement, the government said Thursday.
The deal clears the way for exports of a range of processed poultry products, including samgyetang, chicken nuggets, ham and sausages, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The two sides had been in talks over the issue since 2017.
At the initial stage, two Korean processing facilities operated by Harim and CJ CheilJedang have been approved to ship products to Vietnam.
The ministries said they planned to continue negotiations with Vietnamese authorities to increase the number of approved exporters.
The market opening comes on the sidelines of a bilateral summit in Hanoi between President Lee Jae Myung and To Lam, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and president of Vietnam.
The two leaders agreed to deepen cooperation between their countries on global issues.
Vietnam, the third most populous country in Southeast Asia, has a population of just over 100 million and is a major meat importer.
A January report by the Hanoi government showed the country spends $1.95 billion on imports of meat and edible animal byproducts, with poultry and related products accounting for 18 percent.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
