Changes to the Food Safety Modernisation Act and requirements of the USFood and Drug Administration (FDA) were introduced at a seminar onexports to the US, in Hanoi on April 18.
At the event, Deputy Head of the Trade Promotion Department of theMinistry of Industry and Trade Ta Hoang Linh said since Vietnam and theUS signed a bilateral cooperation agreement, two-way trade has increasedand the US has become Vietnam’s leading importer.
In 2011,Vietnam’s exports to the US fetched 16.9 billion USD, representing 17.5percent of the country’s total exports. However, Vietnamese businessesare still facing difficulties due to poor access to new US regulationson Vietnam’s goods for export.
Vice President David Lennarz ofthe Registrar Corp, which co-organised the seminar, said as of 2012,each food business must register with the FDA biennially.
TheAct allows FDA to inspect a registered food production establishment ifFDA believes the establishment’s products may seriously affect people’shealth or cause human or animal fatality, he said.
The Act also permits FDA to ask and even order the company to retrieve its infectious products, he added.
Expertsalso said US importers are asked to confirm the safety of all batchesof Vietnamese food, pharmaceutical products and beverages shipped to theUS.
The regulation stipulating FDA’s request for safetycertificates for each batch officially took effect on Jan. 4, they said,adding that FDA will release a list of qualified importers on July 4.-VNA
At the event, Deputy Head of the Trade Promotion Department of theMinistry of Industry and Trade Ta Hoang Linh said since Vietnam and theUS signed a bilateral cooperation agreement, two-way trade has increasedand the US has become Vietnam’s leading importer.
In 2011,Vietnam’s exports to the US fetched 16.9 billion USD, representing 17.5percent of the country’s total exports. However, Vietnamese businessesare still facing difficulties due to poor access to new US regulationson Vietnam’s goods for export.
Vice President David Lennarz ofthe Registrar Corp, which co-organised the seminar, said as of 2012,each food business must register with the FDA biennially.
TheAct allows FDA to inspect a registered food production establishment ifFDA believes the establishment’s products may seriously affect people’shealth or cause human or animal fatality, he said.
The Act also permits FDA to ask and even order the company to retrieve its infectious products, he added.
Expertsalso said US importers are asked to confirm the safety of all batchesof Vietnamese food, pharmaceutical products and beverages shipped to theUS.
The regulation stipulating FDA’s request for safetycertificates for each batch officially took effect on Jan. 4, they said,adding that FDA will release a list of qualified importers on July 4.-VNA
