US assesses safety of Vietnam"s tra fish exports

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

The US Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recently conducted a thorough review of the food hygiene and safety management system pertaining to Vietnamese tra fish exports to the US, according to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien.

The review, which took place from August 7 to 22, focused on six key components to determine the system’s equivalence.

These components encompassed the supervision of competent authorities, food safety and consumer protection regulations, microbial analysis programmes, hygiene oversight and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System (HACCP) testing, chemical residue control programmes, and laboratory testing

In addition to these assessments, the inspection team visited 10 processing and export facilities among the 26 enterprises engaged in catfish exports to the US. They also inspected five tra fish farming facilities that supply raw materials to processing ones in the Mekong Delta localities of Can Tho, Soc Trang, Tien Giang, and Dong Thap.

The initial findings of the inspection have garnered favourable responses from US authorities, with only minor technical discrepancies detected at some farms and businesses.

Amid the subdued conditions prevailing in the export market, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers forecast a 15% year-on-year decline in tra fish export revenue to around 2 billion USD./.