European Union inspectors October 8 ended their tour to Vietnamese seafood facilities with conclusion that local seafood facilities are basically meeting the EU bloc’s requirements on food safety and hygiene, the Vietnam Economic Times reported Tuesday.
At a briefing to the National Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate (Nafiqaved) in Hanoi October 8, the inspectors said Vietnamese facilities have fixed several quality problems that they had warned and highlighted the hygiene standards at the bivalve mollusk harvesting zones in Can Gio in HCM city and Kien Luong in Kien Giang province.
However, the inspectors warned that the standards at fish ports and ice producing plants have not met the requirements set forth by the EU.
During the ten-day tour, the EU officials made inspection tours to the Regional Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Centres (Refiqavec) in Nha Trang city and Ca Mau province, the Refiqavec's laboratory in Nha Trang, the Hon Ro fish port in Nha Trang, the Cat Lo fish port in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, two facilities that produce ice, three fishing vessels, seafood processing plants, raw material suppliers and shrimp breeding farms.
The briefing was attended by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Luong Le Phuong, Trade Counselor of the European Commission (EC) Delegation in Vietnam Antonio Berenguer and Minister Counsellor of the EC Delegation in Thailand, Patrick Deboyer.
At the briefing, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Luong Le Phuong was committed to tightening the management and control over raw materials and will apply the new quality standards set out by the EU.
The EU has surpassed the U.S. and Japan to become the biggest importer of Vietnamese seafood and purchases 24.4 per cent of the country’s total seafood exports.
The bloc imported 175,400 tons of seafood valued at US$586 million from Vietnam in the first eight months of 2007, up 24.5 per cent on year and 29.2 per cent, respectively. It has so far allowed 245 Vietnamese enterprises to export seafood products to and is going to license 25 more. (Vietnam & World Economy, Vietnam Economic Times)
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