Safe shrimp production chain for export to be supervised

Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has designed a plan to monitor the production chain of safe shrimp for export, aiming to develop shrimp farms to the standards of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and countries importing the product.

To this end, the ministry will direct the implementation of a national plan on monitoring diseases on shrimp for export in the 2017-2020 period.

The People’s Committees of major shrimp producing localities have been asked to make plans and allocate capital for the application of measures to prevent shrimp diseases to create low-risk areas and shrimp farms with production chain meeting safety requirements.

It is set that until the end of 2017, at lease 10 percent of breeding shrimp farms producing over 1 billion of post larval shrimps each year will be recognised as safe farms.

At the same time, the plan also sets a goal of at least one farm recognised to have production chain meeting OIE safety standards.

The regulations of the OIE and importing countries will also be popularised among enterprises, along with guidelines to reach the standards.

According to reports from localities, by the end of September 2016, there were 80,000 hectares of whiteleg shrimp farming nationwide, a year-on-year rise of 6.3 percent, with an output of 200,000 tonnes, up 4.2 percent.

Meanwhile, total tiger spawn area was nearly 583,000 hectares, a year on year increase of 0.6 percent, with a production of over 174,000 tonnes, a fall of 2.5 percent.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers also reported that as of September 15, Vietnam’s total shrimp export was more than 2 billion USD, including 1.25 billion USD from whiteleg shrimp, 641 million USD from tiger spawn, and more than 168 million USD of sea shrimp.-VNA