November 12, 2010

Japan to inspect Vietnamese shrimp over pesticide traces

Japanese authorities are to begin inspecting all imported Vietnamese shrimp after finding batches that contained pesticide residue, Vietnamese officials said on Thursday (Nov 11).

The decision followed Japanese authorities' discovery of excess levels of trifluralin in three shipments in September and October, the officials said.

Truong Dinh Hoe, secretary general of Vietnam's seafood exporters association, said Japan had previously begun inspecting 30% of Vietnamese shrimp imports after warning the country about trifluralin early this year.

Hoe said Japanese companies were dropping the price they offered for Vietnamese shrimp or turning to other countries for supplies.

Trifluralin is a widely used pesticide found to cause cancer in animals in large doses. Vietnam banned its use in aquaculture in April, but it was unclear how well the order was being enforced, and residue can remain in soil for many months.

Japan has imported about 40,000 tonnes of Vietnamese sugpo shrimp so far this year.

Ngo Van Nga, director of Quoc Viet Seafood Processing Co, said that complete quality control on Vietnamese shrimp was impossible because each container holds shrimp from many different ponds.

"If they decide to check 100% of Vietnam's shrimp, no one knows what will happen," Nga said. "When they are rejected, companies lose US$10,000 per container on expenses like transport and storage."