(seafood.vasep.com) Since 2019, in the Mekong Delta, the pangasius farming area has been standardized, located and issued codes for each pond, ensuring traceability. Quality and output will be strictly controlled to ensure food safety to build the reputation of the pangasius brand for sustainable development.
Pangasius in the farming area Mekong Delta is identified as the main export product of Vietnam. Although always facing fierce competitive pressure in the market, pangasius products still stand firm and develop. Facing with the challenge of climate change and the consumption market affected by the prolonged Covid-19 epidemic, pangasius farming areas have sought to cope and actively regulate the production of raw fish. Enterprises still maintain the pace of production and export activities.
In the period when the world market is quiet due to transportation transactions affected by the pandemic, Vietnamese seafood enterprises have set their top goals in completing the production value chain and ensuring that food quality and safety sustainably develop to maintain the market.
In the Mekong Delta, Bien Dong Seafood is one of the two leading enterprises in farming, processing and exporting pangasius. For many years, Bien Dong Seafood has applied a closed process from seed, feed to commercial catfish ponds and processed at the factory.
The 100% Vietnamese pangasius inspection program was applied by the US in August 2017. Then, from the years 2018-2019 through the food safety inspection (FSIS-USA) at the farming ponds and pangasius processing factories in the Mekong Delta to evaluate the food hygiene and safety control system, FSIS recognized that the implementation of the food safety control system during the production, processing and export of Vietnamese pangasius completely meets US regulations.
Mr. Ngo Quang Truong, Director of Bien Dong Seafood, said: Pangasius must be at a high quality standard to be able to enter the US market. Bien Dong Seafood applies the production process, keeping the quality of exports to other countries stable thanks to the good control of banned substances, antibiotic residues in products, good quality control, and assurance of meeting the requirements of demanding markets like the US.
The Vietnamese pangasius consumption markets of the US, China and the EU accounts for the largest proportion of exports. There are already signs that some export markets such as the US are recovering. The pangasius processing and export enterprises in the region said they had prepared a production plan and actively caught up with the market when the Covid-19 epidemic subsided.