Major seafood products farmed in southern provinces like tra fish and shrimps have been found containing no banned antibiotics lately, according to the southern unit of agro-forestry-fisheries quality.
The conclusion was given last Wednesday after the unit finished inspecting fish farming in 18 southern and Mekong Delta provinces. Among 357 samples tested, no residue of banned antibiotics and chemicals such as chloramphenicol, nitrofurans, enrofloxacin and trifluralin was found.
This is also seen in the declining number of enterprises whose shipments to Japan have been detected containing banned antibiotics.
According to the National Agro Forestry Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (Nafiqad), in January there had been many exporters with shrimp shipments to Japan detected to have banned antibiotics which exceeded the permitted levels. However, the number of such exporters has fallen drastically in recent months.
This also results from the impact of the revision of a circular of the agriculture ministry on monitoring and certifying quality of seafood products. A term which is being discussed is that enterprises will be banned from exporting products if having four shipments that do not meet food hygiene and safety in a period of six months.
Nguyen Van Nhiem, head of the My Thanh Shrimp Farming Association in Soc Trang Province, said that there was information about residue of banned antibiotics affecting not only enterprises but also shrimp farmers. Therefore, farmers are now more aware of the use of such antibiotics in farming, he added.