Vietnam will conduct food safety control system which is equivalent to that of the US (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) — Vietnam’s tra fish exports to the United States haveremained stable after it imposed a demand that exporting countries demonstratetheir food safety control system is equivalent to that of the US.
An announcement to this effect by the Vietnam Association of SeafoodExporters and Producers (VASEP) on August 17 has belied fears and reports thatexports of the fish could be rejected or cancelled in the coming time.
Reports of rejection or cancellation of Vietnamese tra fishexports “has no basis,” VASEP said in a note.
It said that tra fish exports to the US had declined in thefirst quarter due to a shortage of raw materials, but recovered in the secondquarter with an 8.4 percent increase, thanks to rising demand and increase insupply of raw material.
VASEP General Secretary Truong Dinh Hoe said while the equivalence processwas not yet completed, it was prudent not to assume any possibility of Vietnam notpassing such determination or speculate on suspension of ongoing exports.
“During the 18-month transitional period, both sides have worked outcooperative approaches to common issues in question and US Food Safety andInspection Service (FSIS) has also given close guidance on how to complywith its requirements,” Hoe said.
He also said that while Vietnam’s tra fish industry has well developedwith substantial and stringent food safety control system, he is concerned thatan import discrimination policy by the US government may cause unfavourable andunfair decisions against Vietnam.
“VASEP hopes that there will be solutions reached by the two governments not todisrupt free trade between the two countries,” the note said.
In early July, the FSIS had announced that it would apply new importregulations for Siluriformes fish from August 2, instead of September 1 asstated earlier.
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Under the regulations, authorised agencies in the exporting country must submitto the FSIS documents to prove that its food safety control system isequivalent to that of the US.
Following this, the Vietnam National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality AssuranceDepartment (NAFIQAD) has provided guidance on inspection requirements regardinglabelling, detailed inspection content, testing parameters for chemicals residuesand speciation to establishments eligible for exports to the US (as listedin /wps/wcm/connect/eb3720e3-221c-4928-a018-028df5cc28b5/Vietnam_establishments.pdf?MOD=AJPERES)
On August 15, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)launched Siluriformes Controlling Programme designed for Siluriformesfish and related products exported to the US market.
The programme aims to demonstrate equivalence and minimise rejection of fishbatches exported to the US, thus reducing costs for enterprises.
Starting from September 1, 2017, the programme will apply strict supervision onall stages of fish farming, processing and exporting.
Qualified products must satisfy 85 criteria of the US regarding veterinarymedicine, 106 criteria on pesticides, four on dyeing chemicals, 17 on metalsand eight in biochemistry.
In case a fish batch attracts warnings from an authorised US agency, NAFIQADwill request the seafood processor to trace its origin and investigate why itfailed to meet food safety requirements. The department will also halt theconcerned facility’s Siluriformes fish export to the US, while handling itsviolations.
NAFIQAD is also preparing a complete equivalence package to be submitted toFSIS on August 20, 2017. After that, FSIS will initiate the review process ofthe submitted documentation, and if the submission provides an initial basisfor believing the country to be equivalent, FSIS will do an in-country audit.-VNA
VNA
