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Senator urges Vietnam to lift restrictions on US beef
US Senator Max Baucus Wednesday urged Vietnam to remove import restrictions on US beef and take stronger measures against copyright violations.
“I will urge Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong to lift Vietnam’s beef restrictions when I meet with them later today,” Baucus said when meeting with students of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam.
Baucus, a Democrat from Montana and Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Vietnam, however, has already made “significant progress by allowing the import of beef from cattle of under 30 months.”
Vietnam banned US beef in 2003 after the discovery of mad cow disease in the US, but later allowed the import of young beef, believed less susceptible to the disease.
“Greater enforcement will help. So will providing criminal penalties for willful violations of copyright and counterfeiting,” he said, adding Vietnam should reduce its piracy rate.
“Vietnam’s piracy rate for sound recording is about 95 percent. That is way too high to sustain a future economy based on innovation,” he said.
At a press briefing Wednesday, Baucus also called for Vietnam to encourage consumption of domestic products instead of boosting shipments, adding that the US is doing the same.
On the same day, Baucus met with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang, and Deputy Minister of Education and Training Banh Tien Long.
Bao Van
THANHNIEN
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