30 More Vietnam Seafood Firms to Get OK to Export to EU

An additional 30 enterprises will be licensed to ship their seafood products to the European market, said the National Agro-forestry and Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (Nafiqad) after inspecting food security and hygiene implementation at Vietnamese seafood processors.

 

Vietnam currently ranks second in the world in terms of the number of seafood enterprises (301), which have been officially approved to export to this huge market, according to the Nafiqad.

 

The Nafiqad is asked to work closely with the Department of Aquatic Resources Exploitation and Protection to zone off farming areas meeting the EU requirements in order to increase seafood exports to the EU market.

 

Licensed enterprises will be refused if they fail to pass quality and hygiene tests, said an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

 

Nafiqad said that an inspection team from the EU has concluded its examination of the quality of Vietnamese enterprises’ aquatic exports. According to the results, the EU acknowledged efforts made by Vietnamese enterprises in improving seafood safety and hygiene standards under EU regulations.

 

Last year, EU reportedly imported 350,000 tons of seafood products from Vietnam, becoming the largest seafood importer of the Southeast Asian country with share of 25.4 per cent of total export turnover. (Liberated Saigon)