VietNamNet Bridge - A  number of vegetable and fruit export companies may have their consignments refused as they are unaware of the requirements set by the import country.

Nguyen Dinh Tung, general director of Vina T&T, confirmed that he was worried following a warning by US importers about the use of prohibited substances. 

After discovering that consignments of fruits and vegetables from Vietnam contain carbendazim, US agencies imposed fines and destroyed the products, while threatening to stop the imports.

Some exporters admitted that the regulation about prohibited substances was released a long time ago, but they did not pay attention to it. Meanwhile, others said they still cannot find alternative substances.

Only in January 2017 did the Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development (MARD) release the decision on excluding the plant protection products containing carbendazim, benomyl and thiophanate-methyl on the list of products allowed to be used in Vietnam. 

The products containing the three active elements will still be traded and used for two more years.  

After discovering that consignments of fruits and vegetables from Vietnam contain carbendazim, US agencies imposed fines and destroyed the products, while threatening to stop the imports.

“MARD should have immediately recalled and destroyed the plant protection products with these substances,” the director of a fruit export company said.

However, Nguyen Thi Kim Van from the Vietnam Plant Protection Science Association said it is the fault of Vietnamese producers to use prohibited substances, while they must not lay blame on state agencies.

At an international workshop on new requirements on farm produce quality held recently in Can Tho City, Herb Cochran from Amcham emphasized that Vietnamese businesses need to know about FSMA (FDA Food Safety Modernization Act) to minimize the risks of having their exports refused.

Vu Kim Hanh, chair of the Vietnam High Quality Product Enterprise Association, said though the regulation was promulgated a long time ago, Vietnamese businesses and agencies did not pay much attention. As a result, Vietnam’s exports to the US have met many problems.

In the first six months of the year, 45 percent of export consignments to the US lacked necessary documentation about the products.

According to the Vietnam Commercial Affairs Division, under FSMA, foreign companies, including Vietnamese, which export food and drinks to the US have to re-register their production bases and representatives with the US FDA for new business codes.

However, according to FDA, 679 production units in Vietnam have had their business codes annulled because they did not re-register, or they re-registered, but didn’t follow the required current procedures.

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