The Ministry of Trade of Vietnam has received a formal notice from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare saying that Japan once again discovered antibiotic residues in cuttlefish and shrimp exports from five additional Vietnamese seafood enterprises.
The five firms are Hoang Cam Trading Manufacturing Co. Ltd (109A Ho Ngoc Lam, Binh Tan District, HCMC), Hai Thuan Export Seaproducts Processing Co. Ltd (block 13-14 Phan Thiet fishing port, Binh Thuan province), Workshop NO 16 under Quy Nhon Seafood Processing Company (No 4 Phan Chu Trinh, Quy Nhon City in Binh Dinh province), Nam Mai Trading Co. Ltd (18/10 Tran Quang Dieu, district 3, HCM City) and Minh Hieu Seafood Co. Ltd (Highway 1A, Bac Lieu province).
Even though Vietnam has taken strict measures ensuring seafood products exported to Japan do not contain antibiotic residues, so far there has been no improvement in the quality of exported products.
The Ministry of Trade warned that if local seafood companies do not stop exporting low quality products, the very important client will ban shrimp and cuttlefish imports from Vietnam. If that were the case, Vietnamese seafood would lose one of its three biggest consumers.
Recently, the Ministry of Fisheries asked seafood companies exporting to Japan to register with Nafiqaved (the National Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate (NAFIQAVED).
Authorities will examine 100 per cent of exports to Japan from the 11 seafood companies which have been discovered exporting product consignments with antibiotic residues.
Nafiqaved also announced that it will hold training courses on chemical control for shrimp hatchery ponds, establishments specializing in collecting shrimp and workers at processing workshops. Nafiqaved will also reassert control over all phases of seafood production, from farming to preserving and processing.
(Liberated Saigon, Vietnam Economic Times, VietnamNet)
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