Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Bui Cach Tuyen was speaking at a meeting in Hanoi on December 25 to review the office’s performance in 2013 and put forth its action plan in 2014. 

The office should also make more efforts to treat dioxin contaminated land area in Bien Hoa airport, Dong Nai province, while having access to methods using advanced technologies to deal with the toxic chemical consequences, Tuyen said. 

A database identifying the contaminated areas is also needed, he added. 

In 2013, the office’s assistance, the steering board directed and coordinated with the relevant ministries, agencies and localities to conduct activities to clean the toxic chemicals effectively. 

The US troops sprayed 80 million litres of defoliants, which contained almost 400 kg of toxic dioxin, on Vietnam’s southern battlefields during a 10-year period beginning on August 10, 1961.