A tra fish processing factory in Dong Thap province (Photo: VNA) SPS Vietnam has asked the country’s permanent missionto the UN, the WTO, and other international organisations in Geneva to liaise withBrazil’s permanent mission to the WTO to convey Vietnam’s concern.
Deputy Director of SPS Vietnam Ngo Xuan Nam saidthe office proposed online bilateral meetings be held to discuss the issue andthat necessary procedures be conducted to include Vietnam’s concern on the agendaof the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures’ March session.
Regarding Brazil’s rules on fish and shrimp importsthat do not match international practices, Ngo Hong Phong, Deputy Director of theNational Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department at the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development, said Brazil is only permitting the use of phosphatefood additives on the ice cover of aquatic products.
This regulation is not in line with standards issuedby the UN’s Codex Alimentarius Commission and international practices, he noted,adding that other markets such as the EU, the US, and Canada allow the use of phosphatesfor aquatic products at certain levels and do not limit the use to the ice cover,he noted.
To facilitate bilateral trade, the Vietnamese sidehas asked Brazil to reconsider and align its regulations on phosphate use withthe Codex standards and international practices.
Truong Dinh Hoe, Secretary General of the VietnamAssociation of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said Vietnam’s aquatic exportsto Brazil topped 44 million USD in 2020, including 43 million USD from tra fish.
Though shipments to the South American country makeup only a small proportion of Vietnam’s aquatic exports, it is considered a marketwith much room left for promoting tra fish exports. Therefore, the removal of regulationsthat fall outside of international practices will help Vietnamese businesses tapfurther into the market, Hoe said./.
VNA
