viet nams import restrictions in the draft law of animal production in november 2018 the united states raised its concern regarding viet nams draft livestock production law which could restrict us exports of livestock products including meat and poultry to viet nam. the united states thanked viet nam for the extensive bilateral discussions on the issue but highlighted that its concerns had not been fully addressed. the united states observed that the law could be debated and voted on by viet nams national assembly as early as november 2018 and further requested that viet nam provide an update on the status of the draft law. in particular the united states drew attention to article 12 clause 7 of the draft law which would ban the import of livestock products produced using chemicals prohibited for domestic production in viet nam despite assurances from viet nam that it would harmonize its mrls for imported goods to codex standards. the united states reminded viet nam of its obligations under the sps agreement in particular articles 3 and 5 and sought clarification on how viet nam would ensure that the measures taken on chemicals prohibited for domestic production were based on science. the united states also queried the appropriate level of protection that viet nam was seeking through such bans on domestic chemical usage in animal production considering existing scientific evidence including by codex which showed that such chemicals were being used to produce safe food. the united states encouraged viet nam to adopt codex mrls of veterinary drugs in foods and requested viet nam to delay adoption of this law until article 12 clause 7 had been revised to align with viet nams sps commitments and had addressed the identified trade concerns. canada shared the concerns raised by the united states with respect to the latest version of viet nams draft law of animal production. canada thanked viet nam for productive bilateral meetings but expressed its concern regarding the provision contained in article 12.7 that banned imports of products containing residues of veterinary drugs which were prohibited domestically in viet nam. this provision would ban imports of meat products that contained residues of several veterinary drugs including ractopamine for which there were existing codex standards for safe use. canada noted that this provision was essentially the same proposed ban that the vietnamese ministry of health had notified on 7 september 2016 under g sps n vnm 82. on 4 november 2016 canada had submitted detailed comments on that proposal including a request that viet nam maintain mrls for ractopamine and other veterinary drugs based on codex mrls and provide the rationale and scientific justification for taking a zero-tolerance approach. to date viet nam had not responded to canadas formal comments. canada indicated that it had held several bilateral meetings including at the highest levels raising concerns about viet nams proposed ban. however despite these meetings and viet nams indication that the concerns of trading partners were being taken into account the latest version of the draft law of livestock production draft 6 of august 2018 contained a provision which would legislate essentially the same ban which canada had been objecting to since 2016. canada noted that viet nam had notified this draft law on 30 october 2018 as g sps n vnm 95 add.2 providing members with a 60-day comment period ending 29 december 2018. canada observed that viet nams national assembly would be reviewing the draft law on 7 november 2018 and voting on it on 20 november 2018 prior to the end of the notifications comment period. as such canada requested that viet nam delay the review and voting on this draft law until after the conclusion of the comment period of the wto notification so that viet nam could take into account the comments of trading partners. in addition canada continued to request that viet nam remove the provision that banned imports of products containing