Following the Japanese Ambassador sending a letter to Minister of Fisheries Ta Quang Ngoc, mentioning the possibility that Vietnamese seafood could be prohibited from entering Japan, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) asked for the heavy punishment of enterprises which exported unsafe consignments.
At the meeting organized by VASEP and  National Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate (Nafiqaved) on July 3rd in HCMC chaired by Vice Minister of Fisheries Luong Lê Phuong, participants have stressed the seriousness of this move.

Halt granting export license to violated seafood exporters.

Right after the meeting of VASEP’s members finished on July 3, VASEP Chairman Tran Thien Hai sent a notice to the Minister of Fisheries, declaring a state of emergency for seafood exports and proposing stricter control over exports to Japan.

In the meantime, VASEP also asked the Ministry of Fisheries to instruct the National Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate (Nafiqaved) to strictly control all export consignments from enterprises that still cannot assure the quality of their exports to find chloramphenicol and AOZ derivatives.

VASEP has also asked the ministry to halt granting export licences to enterprises which have had many consignments of exports discovered as containing antibiotics residues. The suspension would last one to six months, depending on the seriousness of the violations.

However, Mr Hai said that the application of the urgent measures would not help settle the problem of antibiotic residues to the root. In order to retain the Japanese market, it is necessary to strengthen control over the antibiotic residues in seafood materials before processing.

Especially, Mr Hai said that state agencies should tightly control consignments to be exported by trading companies (which do not have processing workshops). Moreover, Mr Hai says it is necessary to inspect ship owners, farmers, material collecting agents, agents and shops that sell chemicals and veterinary drugs, as well as establishments processing foodstuffs for aquaculture; individuals and establishments that use prohibited antibiotics must be punished heavily, while establishments that cannot meet the requirements for food hygiene must have their licences revoked.

According to VASEP, by the end of May 2007, Vietnam had exported 39,090 tonnes of seafood, worth $240mil. In the first six months of the year, some 6,000 seafood consignments were shipped to Japan, 94 of which, or 1.6% of total exports, were found by Japanese authorities as containing prohibited substances.

Shrimp was the export item shipped to Japan in the period most often found containing prohibited substance residues, totalling 54 consignments of exports. In addition, prohibited substances were found in 29 consignments of mixed seafood, 6 consignments of spring rolls, and 6 consignments of cuttlefish. These products mainly had chloramphenicol (55 consignments), nitrofurans derivatives (23 consignments, including 17 consignments of AOZ and 6 consignments of SEM).

In 2006, total export turnover to Japan was more than $1bil. If Japan shuts the door on Vietnam’s seafood, this would be a tragedy, VASEP has warned.

Tight control over 100% of materials

Regarding the move by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to examine 100% of Chinese farmed seafood imports, VASEP said this should be seen as both a challenge and opportunity for Vietnamese seafood. Though more pressure may be put on Vietnamese seafood exports price for anti-biotic residues -free, Vietnamese exporters will have more opportunities with the US market if fewer imports are permitted from China.

When asked how Vietnam should deal with material imports from China, Nguyen Tu Cuong, Head of Nafiqaved said that the agency would thoroughly examine material imports. However, Mr Cuong said that imports from China were not abundant, but mainly white-feet shrimp.