[MFA spokesperson] was speaking in response to the latest update in the case filed by French-Vietnamese activist Trần Tố Nga, seeking justice for victims of the herbicides manufactured by 14 agrochemical companies for use by the US army during the devastating war in Việt Nam in the 1960-70s

In May 2021, the Evry court, in a Paris suburb, said it did not have jurisdiction over the case, since these sued firms enjoy legal immunity from prosecution as they worked at the order of a sovereign government (US Government, specifically), which prompted Nga to file an appeal to the Paris court, which started deliberating the case from May this year.

The Việt Nam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) without success, submitted petitions to courts in the US regarding the US military’s spray of toxic chemicals including AO/dioxin in Vietnamese territory, which has resulted in serious damages and long-lasting consequences. The Việt Nam-based organisation, representing all victims in the country, says it would continue the sue against 37 US chemical companies involved in the production of the toxins.

Between 1961 and 1971, the US military conducted 19,905 missions, dropping over 80 million litres of toxic chemicals, 61 per cent of which was Agent Orange containing 366kg of dioxin, on nearly 26,000 hamlets and villages that covered 3.06 million ha, equivalent to almost one-fourth of the area of southern Việt Nam, in an attempt to get rid of the forest coverage for the Vietnamese resistance forces out of the forests.