Health

Vietnam lifts tests on food from Japan

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recently decided to cease radioactivity tests on food imported from Japan as of September 1, 2013.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recently decided tocease radioactivity tests on food imported from Japan as of September 1,2013.

The ministry asked the veterinary, plants protection andagro-forestry, aquaculture product quality management departments anddivisions to apply normal checking procedures on Japanese food importsin line with current Vietnamese regulations.

The decision wasmade based on results from radioactivity tests on Japanese food importsconducted by the veterinary and plants protection departments, as wellas those carried out by Japanese partners in recent months.

Testing had been put in place following the Fukushima nuclear meltdown which blighted much of Japan in March 2011.

Previously, on April 11, 2013 the Vietnam Association of SeafoodExporters and Producers (VASEP) had asked the ministry to consider thenecessity of applying radioactivity tests on frozen aquatic materialsimported from Japan for processing and export to a third country.

According to the association, the test cessation will help localseafood processing enterprises increase competitiveness and reducecosts.-VNA
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