Greenfeed Vietnam Corp.'s feed mill, from which NTSF Seafoods sources its feed, earned BAP certification last month. The company's NTSF Seafoods JSC processing plant and Tan Loc Farm Zone farm had already earned BAP certification late last year. The addition of the feed mill allows NTSF Seafoods to offer three-star pangasius.

Located in Thot Not district, Can Tho City, Vietnam, NTSF Seafoods processes approximately 2,000 tonnes of pangasius annually. The company's pangasius products are exported to a number of markets, including the US, the UK and Germany.

Vu Anh Thu of NTSF Seafoods said, "BAP certification assures that we're producing pangasius in a safe and environmentally and socially responsible manner."

At the end of March, the annual output of BAP-certified pangasius processing plants totalled more than 143,500 tonnes. The first pangasius facility was certified in March 2011.

A division of the Global Aquaculture Alliance, Best Aquaculture Practices is an international certification programme based on achievable, science-based and continuously improved performance standards for the entire aquaculture supply chain -- farms, hatcheries, processing plants and feed mills -- that assure healthful foods produced through environmentally and socially responsible means. BAP certification is based on independent audits that evaluate compliance with the BAP standards developed by the Global Aquaculture Alliance.