VietNamNet Bridge – The National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (Nafiqad) has proposed the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recognize an additional 13 Vietnamese tra (pangasius) fish processing factories that meet requirements for export to the U.S.

Illustrative image -- File photo

Nguyen Nhu Tiep, head of Nafiqad, told the Daily on April 20 that the agency has requested FSIS under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) allow 13 more local processors to export to America in the 18-month transitional period from early March to late-August 2017 in line with an inspection program for fish in the Siluriformes order, including Vietnam’s farmed tra and basa fish.

According to Tiep, in the transitional period the competent authorities of exporting countries, including Vietnam, must register the list of enterprises and processors that want to continue shipping products to the U.S. for FSIS’s inspection, evaluation and accreditation.

FSIS has recognized 45 Vietnamese fish processors as eligible to export their products to the U.S. in the transitional period, Tiep said.

In a related development, FSIS has inspected shipments of Vietnamese fish imported into the U.S. since April 15. Shipments failing to meet the U.S. requirements for labeling, hygiene and chemical residues will not be cleared.

To avoid any negative impact of the FSIS assessment in the transitional period, Nafiqad under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has required firms named in the recognized list to actively check their quality control systems and food safety to ensure their products meet the U.S. requirements for residues of chemicals and antibiotics, microorganisms and labeling.

In the first quarter of 2016, Vietnam posted tra fish export revenue of US$358 million, up 4.2% year-on-year. The U.S. contributed US$81 million of the total, up 9.7% over the same period last year.

SGT