VN wants Ukraine to recognize its seafood
VGP - Việt Nam’s National Agro-forestry and Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (Nafiqad) recently asked the Ukrainian Ministry of Agricultural Policy’s State Committee for Veterinary Medicine to inspect and recognize Vietnamese seafood exporters.
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One of seafood processing factories in Việt Nam - Illustration photo |
The move was conducted before Ukraine’s application of new regulations on monitoring imported foodstuff of animal origin since July 23.
The new regulations require foreign enterprises to be verified and permitted by relevant Ukrainian agencies before exporting their products there.
According to the Nafiqad, Việt Nam wants to thrash out solutions for joint supervision over aquatic exports and imports between the two countries.
While waiting for examination and recognition, Việt Nam suggested Ukraine to allow its seafood enterprises to continue exporting their products which meet safety and hygiene requirements in the Ukrainian market.
Nafiqad also called upon Ukraine to introduce its adequate regulations on food safety and quarantine of seafood imports/exports to facilitate the cooperation among competent agencies of the two countries.
Nafiqad confirmed that relevant Vietnamese agencies always keep a close watch on safety and hygiene requirements of imported and exported seafood.
Việt Nam has already inked bilateral agreements relating to the issue with Canada, the Republic of Korea (RoK), China, Russia, Cambodia, and Thailand.
Until June 30, there were 300 Vietnamese seafood processing enterprises eligible to export their goods to the EU, 442 to the RoK, 238 to Canada, and 30 to Russia.
In the first half of 2009, Việt Nam's seafood sector earned nearly US $1.7 billion.
By Khánh Phương
