Vietnam has invited officials from the State Committee for Veterinary Medicine of the Ministry of Agricultural Policy in Ukraine to come to examine the performance of domestic seafood processors that intend to export their products to Ukraine.
The invitation was contained in a letter sent by the Vice Director of the National Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate (Nafiqad), Tran Bich Nga, to Pyotr Verbitsky Ukrainian Chief State Veterinary Inspector.
The move came after Ukraine announced an application of a new regulation regarding the monitoring of imports of meat and meat by-products as of July 23, 2009, which requires foreign exports to be evaluated and granted permission by relevant Ukrainian agencies before being shipped and sold in the country.
While waiting for examination and recognition, Vietnam has asked Ukraine for permission to continue sending seafood shipments into the country if they pass food safety and hygiene requirements imposed by the market.
Nafiqad has also asked Ukraine to provide a full account of its guidelines relating to food safety and quarantine of imported and exported seafood to facilitate possible coordination between the two sides on the issue.
Nafiqad has affirmed that relevant Vietnamese agencies will keep a close eye on the safety and hygiene of imported and exported seafood, having already signed bilateral cooperation agreements to this effect with Canada, South Korea, China, Russia, Cambodia, and Thailand.
As of June this year, as many as 300 Vietnamese seafood exporters were recognized as meeting the standards for exports to the EU, 442 for South Korea, 444 for China, 238 for Canada and 30 for Russia .
Vietnam reportedly earned US$1.7 billion from seafood exports in the first six months of this year, of which US$375 million came from the EU, accounting for 26 per cent. (Labor, VNA)
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