Vietnam’s vice minister of agriculture, Vu Van Tam, delivered the ministry’s diplomatic note to Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Vietnam, Dakhil Al Johani, in a meeting in Hanoi on 7 February
Tam said Vietnam was surprised about the temporary suspension, which he said contains aspects that violate international trading laws.
Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) on 30 January temporarily suspended imports of fish, crustaceans, and other products of aquatic animal origin from Vietnam due to the presence of two diseases in the Southeast Asian nation.
The ban, effective 23 January, was based on the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)’s "Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report (Asia-Pacific Region) April - June 2017," which shows that white spot disease and acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease are present in Vietnam, SFDA said in its notification of emergency measures.
Prior to the issuance of the ban, SFDA dispatched a technical team to Vietnam to observe control measures applied by the Vietnamese government for export facilities of fish, crustaceans, and other products of aquatic animal origin, and following its inspection, the team recommended the ban, according to the note.
Nguyen Nhu Tiep, director of the Vietnamese Agriculture Ministry’s National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department, said Saudi Arabia’s decision was “not reasonable.” SFDA has not sent Vietnam any feedback after its inspection, he said. In addition, white-spot disease is present in shrimp in Saudi Arabia, too, according to Vietnam’s Department of Animal Health. Thus, under regulations of the OIE, Saudi Arabia must prove the safety level of the disease in its country before imposing a ban on imports of shrimp from other countries, Tiep said.
Furthermore, Saudi Arabia’s ban on cooked shrimp products from Vietnam goes against OIE’s rules and international practices, Tiep said, given that the cooking process destroys any disease risk.
Tiep added his opposition to the fact that while Saudi Arabia’s inspection team had only carried out inspections at a few Vietnamese pangasius companies, the SFDA had instituted an import ban on all seafood products from Vietnam. He noted that Saudi Arabia was the only country to have instituted such a ban out of the 160-plus countries and territories to which Vietnam ships seafood, including many with stringent requirements for biosecurity, disease safety, and food security.
The Saudi Arabian ambassador said he shared Vietnam’s concerns over the ban and that he would hand over the diplomatic note to SFDA and work with relevant agencies to make sure the issue does not affect the two countries’ overall trading ties.
Saudi Arabia has also suspended imports of aquaculture products from Bangladesh and Myanmar and farmed fish from India.
Vietnam’s pangasius export to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reached more than 7 million USD in the first quarter of this year, a rise of 67% against the same period last year. UAE mainly imported frozen fillets from Vietnam.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) According to data from General Department of Vietnam Customs, the UK imported nearly $3 million worth of pangasius from Vietnam in the first half of March 2024. Cumulative pangasius exports to this market reached $12 million as of March 15, 2024, down 3% from the same period last year.
Total export revenue from agro-forestry-fisheries products in the first three months of this year is estimated at 13.53 billion USD, up 21.8% over the same period last year; and this results in a trade surplus of 3.36 billion USD, a rise of 96.5%, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
The southernmost locality is developing shrimp farming models that generate large outputs but are environment-friendly.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) An Giang province's aquaculture output is predicted to reach 172.3 thousand tons in the first quarter of 2024, up 6.37% (+10.3 thousand tons) from the same time the previous year.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) According to data from Vietnam Customs, as of March 15, 2024, Vietnam's cephalopod exports reached more than 109 million USD, a slight decrease of 3% compared to the same period in 2023. In the first quarter of this year, Vietnam's cephalopod exports are expected to reach about 136 million USD, down 2% over the same period last year.
(vasep.com.vn) According to statistics from the International Trade Centre (ITC), Portugal is the 6th largest tuna importer in the EU. In 2023, the country's tuna imports from other countries increased by 9% compared to 2022, reaching nearly 241 million USD.
(vasep.com.vn) Vinh Hoan Corporation has just announced supplementary documents for the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, scheduled to be held on April 17.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Sao Ta Food Joint Stock Company (FIMEX VN) has just announced that in March 2024, finished shrimp output reached 2,000 tons and finished shrimp consumption reached 1,693 tons, an increase of 74%, and 42% over the same period in 2023, respectively.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In February 2024, Vietnam pangasius exports to China and Hong Kong decreased by 65% compared to February 2023, reaching 23 million USD.
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