Regarding fresh grapes imported into Vietnam, the leader of the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) said: Currently, all fruit batches, including grapes, imported into Vietnam are subject to the usual food safety inspection method (only checking documents). The order and procedures for food safety inspection for this item are implemented according to the provisions of Decree 15.

For imported grapes, the Plant Protection Department has included them in the food safety monitoring program in 2024.

Testing 10 samples of grapes imported from China, the results showed that no samples violating food safety (pesticide residue) of Vietnam were detected.

Regarding the results of monitoring Chinese grapes in 2023, the leader of the Plant Protection Department said that out of 77 samples, 1 sample (1.3%) was found to violate Vietnamese regulations.

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Milk grapes are sold everywhere in Vietnamese markets at super cheap prices. Photo: Tam An

Regarding the news that the test results of milk grapes from Thailand detected pesticide residues, the Plant Protection Department said it had contacted and received official information from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Thai FDA.

Based on the analysis results and official warnings from Thailand, the Department will review and apply strict inspection methods to imported grape shipments from China.

In addition, the Plant Protection Department will continue to exchange information on international food safety warning channels to assess food safety risks for Chinese grapes.

"Information on mass media about this issue needs to be officially reported by management agencies (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) to avoid causing inaccurate public opinion in society," the leader of the Plant Protection Department shared.

Food safety inspection of imported fruit shipments is currently being carried out in accordance with the provisions of Decree 15/2018/ND-CP dated February 2, 2018 of the Government promulgating detailed regulations for the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety (hereinafter referred to as Decree 15).

Decree 15 stipulates 3 methods of food safety inspection including: strict inspection, regular inspection and reduced inspection. Which method is applied is based on food safety risk assessments for imported shipments/items:

- Reduced inspection method: check documents of up to 5% of total imported shipments within 01 year randomly selected by the customs authority;

- Normal inspection method, which only checks the documents of imported shipments.

- Strict inspection method, in which document inspection is combined with sampling and testing.

Based on monitoring data, post-inspection, domestic and international food safety warnings, and food safety violations over the years, specialized management agencies decide to apply regular inspection methods or strict inspections to shipments and items.

In addition to the food safety inspection of imported fruits before customs clearance, every year, the specialized agency of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Plant Protection Department, implements the Food Safety Monitoring Program for imported foods of plant origin. The main activity of this program is to collect samples for analysis of food safety indicators, especially focusing on indicators of pesticide residues on imported fruits. The objectives of the Program are:

- Assess the safety level of imported foods, demonstrated through compliance with Vietnam's food safety regulations;

- Serving food safety inspection activities for imported plant-based goods, preventing shipments that do not ensure food safety, protecting the health of domestic consumers;

- Promptly propose to the management agency to supplement or change inspection criteria and inspection items for imported food to suit the actual situation.

It can be seen that the results of Food Safety Monitoring activities play a major role in making decisions on applying inspection methods for imported shipments/items.