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MARACAIBO, Venezuela, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela and Colombia will implement effective security plans to control food and fuel smuggling across the border, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said Thursday.

Jaua and his Colombian counterpart Maria Angela Holguin signed on Thursday in Maracaibo in northwestern Venezuela a memorandum to work together along the 2000-kilometer-long border to combat smuggling, which accounts for up to 40 percent of the food Venezuela produces or imports.

"We have signed this agreement to fight smuggling and there is no economic activity whatsoever that justifies a Venezuelan to leave our families no food, which contributes to shortages in certain products," Jaua said.

Both countries agreed to implement the mandatory marking of livestock and revise transactions related to money laundering through the effort of their central banks, said Jaua.

In judicial matters a permanent mechanism for information exchange was established between both countries, he added.

Venezuela also proposed remittances sent from the country to Colombia should be made in pesos, not in dollars, in order to avoid irregular currency handling.

Holguin said within 30 days, both countries "will perform an assessment of the results (of the agreement) once these measures are adopted."

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro reacted to the agreement on his Twitter account, saying they are "very good agreements with the government of Colombia to fight smuggling and put the border economy back on a sound footing. Let's continue working."