Hanoi to crackdown on fruit street vendors The Hanoi's Department of Industry and Trade is targeting fruits and flower vendors as part of a pavement clean-up and food hygiene drive.    Street vendors will be forced to move indoor A representative from the Department of Industry and Trade said Hanoians consumed 52,000 tonnes of fruits a month and the locally-grown fruits only met 18% of the demand. As most fruits are imported from other provinces and overseas, the city needs better management to prevent unsafe products and products with unknown origin. The authorities aim to persuade all street vendors in the city to register for business within this year.  The street vendors will be forced to move indoors and be required to have a sign board, shelves and equipment to preserve the fruits.  The sellers must also have knowledge about food safety and hygiene. The authorities will also apply a series of policies to control quality and origin of the fruits. The sellers must have detail information about their suppliers or active certificate from VietGap and GlobalGap. Le Hong Thang, director of the Department of Industry and Trade, said they had divided the sellers into three groups including the supermarkets and shopping centres, the wholesale markets and flea markets and finally the individual street sellers on the pavements who are considered the most difficult ones to manage. Thang said they would start to pilot a ‘management programme’ for the street vendors.  There are also opinions that the government should set standards for retail stores and issue official regulations if the pilot programme proves successful in the city centre. The Department of Industry and Trade will continue to complete the plan. Vu Dinh Phu, president of Hanoi Supermarket Association, said unhygienic food had appeared in supposedly reputable supermarkets.  Phu also advocated tightened management over street vendors, which he described as ‘necessary’. dtinews