Vietnamese companies seeking access to American markets face a tough screening process, as the US health watchdog FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has imposed strict requirements on imports say government officials.

“The strict rules apply to not just Vietnam but all foreign countries supplying food products for human as well as animals in the US and vary as per the type of food product,” said Hoang Trung, deputy head of the Plantation Protection Department (PPD).

The US regulations require Vietnamese companies to go through a screening process that ensures food being imported has been produced in compliance with the processes and procedures required by FDA standards.

Simply put, Trung says the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures (the SPS agreement) sets out the basic rules for food safety standards.

Sanitary measures are public health policies and regulations to ensure that food is safe and nutritious for human consumption while phytosanitary measures relate to animal welfare and plant health.

However the SPS agreement allows the US government (just as it allows all governments) to set its own standards so long as those standards do not unjustifiably discriminate against Vietnam’s or other nations agricultural products.

Therefore, Deputy Head Trung says it’s critically important for companies to understand the FDA requirements and ensure they are in compliance to gain and maintain access to the US market.

Most importantly this translates into food products being free of chemical residues as the US FDA will most certainly slam the door shut of Vietnamese products that continue to excessively test positive for abusive chemical use.

Many strict requirements

“Complicated plant quarantine procedures for fruits and vegetables are one of the biggest challenge to companies accessing the US market,” Trung said.

The US has rigid quarantine restrictions that are aimed at protecting US domestic producers from potentially damaging insects from Vietnam, so imports must be put in isolation for a period of time before shipped to the US.

The Vietnam quarantine agency oversees compliance with this process and each shipment must be accompanied with a certification from the agency to the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

The US imposes stringent requirements not only on the quality of products but also packaging methods, which Vietnamese companies will have to master in order to ship products into the US market.

Labelling requirements

Labelling requirements on agricultural products are also vitally important says Trung and most products from Vietnam to date that have been sold in the US were sold under US brand names.

If Vietnamese products are going to have long term success accessing the US market then products such as coffee, pepper, and cashew nuts should strive for labelling that establishes brand recognition.

This is particularly true with fish as there has historically been rampant mislabelling and black marketing of fish in the US market – practices that have mislead consumers and cost the global fishing industry major losses each year.

Labelling laws in the US also have served as a significant non-tariff barrier to keep Vietnamese fish out of the US market.  For instance, Vietnamese tra fish and basa fish (or any imported fish) cannot be labelled ‘catfish’ in the US.

A unique aspect of fish is that the type of fish is its brand name, according to John Connelly, President of the US National Fisheries Institute (NFI).

In other words catfish, tra fish, pangasius fish or swai fish are all viewed as separate brands and mislabelling of brands will create innumerable headaches for Vietnamese companies that do not adhere to their proper labelling.

Country of origin labelling has also been used as a non-tariff barrier to keep Vietnamese fish out of the US market so great care must be undertaken to insure compliance with these strict requirements of the US market.

In the past the US FDA has repeatedly found imported catfish to contain contaminants, chemicals and drugs that are banned.

For this reason, it is federally mandated that restaurants disclose the country of origin of all fish and seafood on their menus and products without the proper country of origin supporting documents will be prohibited entry into the US.