June 15, 2005

Vietnam seeks greater EU support for seafood exports

Vietnam is requesting for greater European Union support for the country's seafood as 20 more Vietnamese seafood processing businesses seek to enter the EU market.

EU inspectors visited Vietnam to investigate hygienic conditions at seafood processing and trading businesses in April. All 10 out of the 151 companies authorised to export their products to the EU were found to meet EU requirements.

Vietnam's regulations on the safety of seafood products and the system of government agencies in the field were also found to have satisfied EU expectations, the government said.

The number of Vietnamese enterprises gaining entry to the EU market will reach 171 if the proposal is approved.