A pest risk assessment approved by USDA and Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) followed nearly five years of collaborative efforts by the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), the United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP), and the National Sorghum Producers (NSP) and work with USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) as well as regulators and industry in Vietnam.

Work on the pest risk assessment – which outlines how U.S. sorghum must be handled to meet regulations in Vietnam – became even more critical after a vessel of sorghum originally destined for China in April 2018 was diverted to Vietnam but couldn’t be delivered because there was no pest risk assessment protocol in place.

The biggest lift during the process was establishing documentation from the industry to pass to APHIS. USGC, USCP and NSP, along with their members, worked with FAS in Hanoi to complete the assessment.

Sorghum is attractive to Vietnamese buyers seeking to diversify their sources of energy in feed and find feed sources that store better in local climates. Sorghum is gluten-free and non-biotech, which is also attractive to niche sectors in Vietnam, including the pet food industry.