February 15, 2007

 

Vietnam to scrap inspection on seafood bound to US, Canada

 

 

Vietnam is set to remove obligatory inspections of seafood exports to the US and Canada after recent analysis on batches are found to be qualified with the territories' food sanitation standards, reports the Thanh Nien News daily.

 

The National Fisheries Quality and Veterinary Directorate (Nafiqaved), under the Ministry of Fisheries, will only perform antibiotic tests on batches of seafood if required by its foreign partners to meet bilateral trade agreements.

 

Accordingly, basa and tra catfish, shrimp and crab  will now be exempt from inspections.

 

The ministry reported that last year only 0.43 percent of nearly 579,000 tonnes of seafood shipments - 72 percent of the country's total seafood exports - were contaminated with antibiotics. 

 

Nafiqaved has conformed to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last July to test its seafood shipments for veterinary drug residues. 

 

The inspection results showed that seafood contaminated with banned chemicals had been reduced by 80 percent in 2006.

 

The authorities also found that microbial contamination had lowered by 50 percent over the previous year.

 

Last year, only one batch of seafood exports to the US were tainted with chemicals and antibiotics compared to 71 cases in 2005.

 

The fisheries authorities have been imposing 100 percent residue check on seafood exports to the US and Canada since 2005.

 

On the other hand, the ministry reported the European Union (EU) surpassed the US to become the second largest importer of Vietnam fisheries products last year, behind top market Japan, due to its stronger demand for local catfish products.

 

Around half of Vietnam's shipped tra and basa items were exported to the EU last year, showing a year-on-year growth rate of 50 percent.

 

The EU market last year made up 21.6 percent of Vietnam's total fishery shipments of US$3.31 billion, posting additional revenues of US$715 million in 2005.

 

Top importer Japan has dropped its share of Vietnam aquatic products to 25.3 percent in 2006 from 30 percent in the previous year while the US consumption also fell from 23 percent in 2005 to 19.9 percent last year.

 

The sector targeted total fishery export revenue of US$3.6 billion this year.