November 1, 2012

On October 29-November 3, 14 Vietnamese aquatic farming sites and seafood processing establishments are being inspected by a South Korean expert team.

This is according to the National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (Nafiqad) under Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The South Korean team from the Animal, Plant and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection Agency (QIA) is focusing on the inspection of food safety at these firms, which are located in Vietnam's coastal central and southern regions, the Viet Nam newspaper reported Wednesday (Oct.31).

The QIA's inspectors are also checking the hygiene conditions of companies producing tuna by-products, which are being exported to South Korea.

South Korea is Vietnam's fourth largest seafood importer, after the US, EU and Japan. In the first nine months of this year, the country purchased Vietnamese seafood at a worth of US$365.2 million, rising by 7.4% on-year and accounting for 8.09% of total Vietnamese export revenues from the commodity in the period.