Fifty-six Vietnamese enterprises are eligible to ship seafood to Japan without having to undergo food hygiene tests implemented earlier this month, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
The official list of the qualified exporters certified by the National Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate (Nafiqaved) is set to be announced August 1.
The VASEP said these enterprises had exported 10 consecutive shipments of seafood products to Japan without banned antibiotics and met the country’s food hygiene norms.
The list of qualified exporters will be updated once a month and sent to the customs agencies, according to the association.
Earlier this month, the fisheries ministry had said that all seafood products meant for export to Japan would be checked to ensure they are free of antibiotic residues and banned chemicals.
The ministry said it would also inspect all seafood processing firms. Firms failing to meet safety norms would not be allowed to export and could even be shut down.
The safety drive followed a recent complaint by Japan’s ambassador to Vietnam, Norio Hattori, that banned antibiotic residues were still found in frozen shrimp and cuttlefish products from Vietnam.
If the situation did not improve soon, Japan would consider a ban on the import of Vietnamese seafood, he had warned.
In the first half of the year, seafood exporters shipped 6,000 batches to Japan, 94 of which were found to contain banned antibiotics like AOZ (3-amino-2-oxazole), Chloramphenicol, and Nitrofuran.
Since last year, Japanese authorities have been testing all Vietnamese shrimp and cuttlefish for antibiotics.
Japan has long been one of Vietnam’s major seafood customers, buying 27 per cent of its seafood exports last year, second only to the US. (Youth, Vietnam Economic Times)
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