Vietnam has not imported any meat from Brazil’s 21 meat-packaging plants under police investigation for allegedly selling unsafe products, according to official information from the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Previously, from March 23, the MARD signed a decision to suspend imports of meat and poultry from these 21 factories. At the same time, it recommended that consumers who want imported meat and poultry should go to supermarkets and shops with prestige to buy, while considering carefully the origin (the packaging should be clearly labelled) to avoid trade fraud.
Brazil is one of the major suppliers of cattle and poultry to Vietnam. In January 2017, the country spent nearly US$800,000 to import poultry from Brazil.
The import of livestock products is completely normal, in line with international practice. The problem is the mechanism of management and product quality control to prevent unsafe shipments, as especially in the current context, imported meat is increasingly entering Vietnam’s market, both the main and petty categories in both fresh and frozen forms.
For beef alone, there are more than 200 exporters from EU countries licensed to export to Vietnam. In addition, products imported from Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Indonesia also tend to increase. From that point of view, it creates diversification for the market, but also means that there are violations on importing and trading inferior quality goods.
The incident in Brazil has once again raised the alarm bell that Vietnam needs to further strengthen its State management of imported meat products.
There are opinions saying that, as Vietnam commits to opening its market through free trade agreements with several countries and regions, it cannot avoid the "wave" of imported meat. It is a reality to be accepted in the common "playground."
For that reason, in addition to strengthening the management and control of imported products, technical barriers are required to these goods when entering Vietnam to ensure good quality and reasonable prices.
Accordingly, in addition to the normal quarantine in accordance with Circular No. 25/2010/TT-BNNPTNT by the MARD guiding the inspection of food hygiene and the safety of imported goods of animal origin, it is necessary to monitor the residue on each product in a specific and detailed manner.
At the same time, the Department of Animal Health should urge border veterinary agencies to further tighten the control of shipments of meat and poultry products imported into Vietnam.
In the long run, the domestic husbandry industry should further strengthen the application of hi-tech and technical improvements to reduce costs and improve the quality of livestock products, thereby reducing imports of meat and poultry products in general.
Source: Nhandan.com
Key words: Strengthening, technical barriers, to meat imports
