September 17, 2007

Vietnam decries new Australian quarantine rule

Vietnam has blasted the new Australian regulation that requires all Vietnamese exports to undergo quarantine.

The Sai Gon Giai Phong daily said Australia now requires fresh and frozen shrimp to be free from white spot, yellow head, taura, virus, and red eus. The country also asked the Vietnamese exporters to disconnect the shrimps' head and body for separate quarantine inspections.

Nguyen Tu Cuong, head of the National Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate, said the new regulation was unreasonable since none of the above diseases had ever been found in Vietnamese shrimp.

The inspection would entail additional production cost, he said.

He recommended exporters to ship processed shrimps for the meantime while waiting for its request for Australia to abolish its new regulation.