Shrimp processors and exporters throughout Vietnam are being urged to refuse to collect unclear-sourced shrimp materials, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
Tran Thien Hai, deputy chairman of the Shrimp Sub-Committee under VASEP has sent a dispatch to its members, asking them to take measures to control the quality of input materials.
Hai stressed the need to strictly control the input materials, which is believed to help prevent exporting the products with anti-biotic residues.
Processors can ask farmers to show the samples of food and medicine to supervise the shrimp hatchery process, Hai said, adding that processors must reject shrimp materials that do not have clear sources for tracking down if necessary.
Hai also called on VASEP’s members to reinforce the implementation of the requirements on food hygiene at the workshops. Workers must be warned against the use of decontamination substances, and must wear gloves while working.
Shrimp exporters were also asked to cooperate closely with importers by providing information to their partners if necessary. In addition, they need to join forces with other enterprises and state management authorities to control and prevent them from using prohibited anti-biotic substances.
The enterprises that have the consignments of shrimp containing anti-biotic residues should make efforts to track down the reasons and find out suitable solutions. Vietnamese enterprises, through the importers, should express the common voice to the Japanese authorities, asking them to loosen the orders which are harmful to Vietnamese producers and exporters.
Prior to that, the Ministry of Fisheries has released Dispatch 2543 on undertaking urgent measures to control the exports to Japan. Inspection tours will be taken in key provinces in the Mekong Delta provinces, including Binh Thuan, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, and Ho Chi Minh City, in order to supervise the shrimp hatchery process and prevent the use of prohibited anti-biotic substances.
Recently, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has ordered the inspection of 100 per cent of the consignments of shrimp exported by Vietnam to the country. More seriously, during the inspection period, Japanese authorities may order to prohibit Vietnam-sourced products to be imported to Japan if more consignments of shrimp are discovered to be containing anti-biotic residues.
At present, shrimp is the largest export earner for Vietnam's seafood industry, accounting for more than half of the country’s total seafood export revenue of US$2.6 billion last year.
Vietnam Agriculture
Vietnamese
