HANOI: Vietnam’s fisheries agencies have been called upon to pay close attention to US regulations imposed on Vietnam’s pangasius fish to ensure that exports continue, reports VietNamNet.
The task has been placed on the shoulders of the National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department and the International Cooperation Department, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Directorate of Fisheries and the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), in the wake of the US Department of Agriculture’s recent ruling establishing an inspection program for fish under the Siluriformes order, including Vietnamese pangasius.
Minister Cao Duc Phat said the US’s swift implementation of its inspection program, scheduled for March 2016, will cause a range of difficulties for Vietnamese exporters and managers.
Between now and Mar. 2, the ministry will coordinate with the VASEP to send the US a list of Vietnamese businesses who are keen to continue shipping tra and basa fish to the market. At the same time, Vietnam will inform the US about its legal system and state management over food safety in fish production and processing, as required by the US side, the official said.
According to the minister, Vietnam will have a transitional period of 18 months, starting from March 2016, during which the country has to prove that its tra and basa fish production management system is similar enough to the US’s. However, he said, this remains Vietnam’s biggest concern, as its management system is different from that of the US.
During this time period, the Southeast Asian nation must overhaul its production and quality inspection processes as demanded by the US, Phat said, adding that relevant Vietnamese agencies have been urged to trace unsuitable and dissimilar regulations and adjust them.
