December 27, 2011

Asserting that current Kobe beef at local Vietnamese restaurants is not quarantined, Vietnam has not reached any veterinary agreements with Japan on Kobe beef importation from the Eastern Asian country, an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) said.

Nguyen Xuan Binh, director of the ministry's Veterinary Department for Zone VI, said due to lack of agreement between the two governments, Vietnam has not yet allowed imports of Japanese beef.

Binh also expressed his doubt about the origin of beef offered in Vietnam's market under Kobe brand.

That Japanese beef is illegally imported in Vietnam and should be destroyed by local authorities, said Binh.

Currently Vietnam allows beef imports from some countries, including the US and Australia.

Vietnam and Japan will negotiate on importing Japanese-sourced beef in the Southeast Asian country, the MARD's Animal Veterinary Department said.

Currently, some Vietnamese restaurants said they offer food prepared from imported Japanese Kobe beef. Such one restaurant in Hanoi sells noodle soup at VND1 million (US$47.54) for a bowl while ordinary bowl of noodle soup is offered at VND20,000-50,000 (US$0.95-2.38).

Most of clients of the restaurant are state officials and businessmen.