April 8, 2009
Vietnam to inspect for banned antibiotics in seafood trading firms
Vietnam authorities will inspect seafood trading firms to ensure they do not export products contaminated with banned antibiotics or dump them, hurting the entire industry, a top official said Friday (Apr 3).
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) deputy minister Luong Le Phuong said some firms that care only about winning orders and not quality, ship products containing banned residues.
Phuong said the ministry would issue export licenses only to firms that meet the safety and quality standards set by Vietnam and importing countries.
He said that the practice hopes to eliminate risks on the country's seafood shipments as was the case recently.
Recently, Egyptian and Russian authorities refused to allow import of Vietnamese pangasius, alleging the products contained banned residues, but later relented and allowed imports from Vietnam after the ministry furnished evidence proving their safety.
Exports to the European market, which accounted for 26 percent of the total Vietnamese seafood exports, fell by 15 percent and to Japan, the second largest export market, by 8 percent.
