The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has announced that it would pay from VND 1-50 million (USD44-2,221) to whistleblowers who report on the use of banned substances in animal feed.

Head of the ministry's inspection department, Pham Tien Dung, recently told the media that a farmer in Hanoi's Hoai Duc District has just been given 2 million (USD89) for denouncing an animal feed company for using a banned substance.

"He has also been given a certificate of merit by the minister for helping in the investigation," Dung added.

“It's great that the farm owner said no with such toxic substances and denounced the use of it in feeding animals," Dung said. "We hope that he provides a good example and encourages other farmers to follow. We promise to maintain complete confidentiality for whistleblowers.”

Dung said that the ministry had set aside a fund for cash awards to encourage people to denounce wrongdoings in animal feed.

The whistleblowers can receive up to VND 50 million depending on the violations which will be assessed by the investigation team.

Up to 80% of Vietnamese animal feed companies have been found to have used at least one banned substance for their products, according to a recent survey by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Common banned substances detected included Salbutamol, Clenbuterol and vat yellow which can all cause cancer.

Salbutamol is allowed to be imported into Vietnam for medicinal production only, but lax management has created chances for the use of this in animal feed production. Meanwhile, Clenbuterol has been prohibited in Vietnam for more than a year, but in reality still remains on sale.

"Vietnam has imported 9.1 tonnes of Sabutamol for production of medicine during 2014 and 2015," Dung revealed. "Although Salbutamol is banned from animal feed production, it is being widely used by local companies."

Most of the violations were found in companies in Bac Giang, Hung Yen and Hai Duong in the north and Dong Nai, Tien Giang and HCM City in the south.
An investigation in Hoai Duc revealed that the company had used Sabutamol 100 times over the allowed level.

Dtinews