Suspending unqualified food safety certificates for catfishes

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued Decision No. 1456 / QD-BNN-QLCL on inspections and certification of food safety for shipments of Siluriformes fishes to export to the US.

From 1st September 2017, pangasius catfishes will be officially recognized by the US Government as catfishes.

Accordingly, from 17th April 2017 to the end of 31st August 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will apply the inspections and food safety sampling for each shipment of Siluriformes fishes to export to the United States.

The test criteria include: Salmonella, Malachite Green / Leuco Malachite Green, Enrofloxacine/ Ciprofloxacine, Crystal Violet / Leuco Crystal Violet and Nitrofurazone (SEM).

In particular, only shipments of Siluriformes fishes are produced on the list of permitted factories and have food safety certificates for export can export Siluriformes fishes to the US.

The National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) will suspend the inspections and certification of food safety for shipments of Siluriformes fishes to export to the United States for the shipments which are warned by the US authorities to meet food quality and safety requirements until the facilities complete investigation into the cause of the shipments and implement corrective measures to submit to the National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department.

Reportedly, from 1st September 2017, pangasius catfishes will be officially recognized by the US Government as catfishes, whether pangasius catfishes are processed in the domestic market or for export, they will be subject to the supervision of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Till now, Vietnam has had 62 facilities on the list of exporting Siluriformes fishes to the US market. Therefore, Vietnam's catfishes when exporting to the United States will have to comply with requirements and regulations of the US Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).