April 5, 2006

 

Vietnam urges shrimp farmers to stop using banned chemicals

 

 

Vietnam's Ministry of Fisheries and seafood processors are calling on farmers to stop the use of prohibited chemicals by shrimp farmers.

 

Seafood processors have to abide by strict regulations on hygiene standards and suffer massive losses when their shrimps are refused for containing banned chemicals.

 

Deputy Minister of Fisheries Nguyen Thi Hong Minh has called on producers to halt the introduction of contaminants into shrimps. Authorities have a hard time stopping such use as it would be impossible for them to monitor shrimps from breeding ponds to the wholesalers, said Minh.

 

Police in the Ca Mau Province in Southern Vietnam have recorded 255 cases of prohibited chemicals in shrimp, seizing 66 tonnes of materials worth VND3billion (US$200,000).

 

In 2005, there were 148 cases of banned substances in shrimp, in which 43 tonnes of materials were found to have been contaminated.

 

Nguyen Huu Dung, Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP), said that authorities should prosecute breeders, dealers, boat owners and processors who violate regulations and owners must take responsibility for the refused goods. Details of the new measures would be released next month.

 

Shrimp processors are sometimes under pressure to fulfil contracts and may compromise standards by accepting contaminated shrimps, said Dung.

 

He proposed that shrimps should be examined by an intermediate organisation before processing. Producers, dealers and wholesalers must acknowledge the results and processors would be obilged to purchase only if consignments meet international standards.

 

In accordance with a plan signed by Ministry of Fisheries last month, the ministry will examine all raw shrimp brought to the processors or to collecting agents in the Mekong River Delta. In addition, authorities will set up a market specifically for monitoring quality in Ca Mau Province.

 

Fifty-one shrimp processors have agreed not to purchase shrimp that violate safety laws. However, analysts knew it might simply be lip service since such promises have been given and broken before. Inspections are costs that affect the bottom line, something processors would only be too happy to avoid, they said.

 

The National Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate (Nafiqaved) currently only examines products at processing plants, and lacks the resources to monitor at the much smaller collection points.