(seafood.com) Following the September 8 signing of the Japan-Russia treaty to prevent poaching and smuggling of crab, a new procedure for Japan's crab imports will be introduced from December at the earliest.

(IntraFish) Even in Germany – one of the first European countries to offer ASC-stamped seafood -- it could be some time until consumers realize “what ASC means,” Ronald Horn, sales manager at Bangkok-headquartered Lenk Seafood told IntraFish.

(vasep.com.vn) National Agricultural Extension Center cooperated with Agricultural Extension Center of Kien Giang province to organise a training course on shrimp farming in compliance with VietGAP standards.

Although the media focuses on egregious instances of abuse of food quality and safety, as in our Bloomberg story today about Ngoc Sinh Seafoods in Vietnam, which had 81 rejections by FDA since 2007, the overall performance of China and Vietnam is rarely evaluated.

(SeafoodSource) Canadian wholesale and retail supplier Seacore Seafood earned chain-of-custody certification from the Aquaculture Stewardship Council.

(foodnavigator.com) A new EU project aims to tackle how consumers interpret health claims and symbols on food products in the hope of developing future guidelines on how such claims can be used to strengthen informed choice, healthy eating and industrial competitiveness.

(vasep.com.vn) 2012 year to date, Tra Vinh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) granted 50 certificates for caught raw fish and 10 certificates for marine fish exported to EU.

(vasep.com.vn) From 18th to 22nd September 2012, NSF Sure Fish - an accredited third-party and non-governmental seafood safety and quality company – sent experts to take audits and assess two pangasius processing plants of An Giang Fisheries Import and Export Joint Stock Company (Agifish) under the Best Aquaculture Pratices (BAP) standard.

(foodnavigator.com) The European Commission has approved plans to harmonise the use of food flavours in the European food industry with a list of permitted flavouring substances.

(foodnavigator-asia.com) China this week launched a registration system to record the variety and origin of imported food. The measure comes as part of the government’s bid to establish a tracking system for food imports to improve safety.

(seafood.com) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it is having difficulty implementing expansive new rules to improve food safety, nearly two years after President Barack Obama signed the standards into law, because of a lack of funding.

(SeafoodSource) The University of Nottingham has added Marine Stewardship Council certification to its accolades, allowing it to serve MSC certified sustainable fish to over 32,000 students. The University follows Nottingham’s city and district primary schools which became MSC certified in July 2011.

(fis.com) An expert suggesting people wash hairy crabs with a sodium bicarbonate solution to avoid pesticide residues has sparked a heated discussion online concerning food safety, with the best season for crabs just around the corner.

(vasep.com.vn) All facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold food products intended for consumption in the U.S. are required to register and renew their registrations every 2 years with FDA under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The first biennial registration renewal period was scheduled from October 1 to December 31, 2012.

(vasep.com.vn) Quality certification programs are increasingly popular in seafood export and trade promotion in the international market. Therefore, many Vietnam seafood processors and exporters, especially those in pangasius industry, have been actively investing in fish farming area and processing facilities to meet international quality and food safety requirements.