Recently, Iceland has sent a warning on the European Union (EU) Notification System for Vietnamese exported plant-based food products that violate food safety regulations.
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| Vietnam SPS Office informs about longan fruit warned in Iceland |
Specifically, in the notification reference number 2023.6133 dated September 8, 2023, the notifying country is Iceland with the product being longan fruit. The measure taken is to destroy the product. The manufacturer is a business in Tan Binh district, Ho Chi Minh City. The hazard of detecting carbaryl pesticide residue is 15.4±50% mg/kg, the maximum allowable residue level is 0.01 mg/kg.
Mr. Ngo Xuan Nam - Deputy Director of the Vietnam SPS Office (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) - said that immediately after receiving the notification from the EU, the Vietnam SPS Office studied the documents and the results showed that this was a shipment of a business in Ho Chi Minh City exported to the EU, with a total weight of 386 kg, worth 1,015 USD with 46 agricultural products, including vegetables, tubers, and fruits such as water spinach, Vietnamese coriander, perilla, water mimosa, mustard greens, basil, papaya, squash... Of which, bonbon fruit weighed only 10 kg, worth 32 USD, according to the invoice of the unit exporting to Iceland.
“Thus, in the entire shipment of 46 products, only 10kg of longan fruit exceeded the maximum allowable limit of carbaryl according to EU regulations,” said Mr. Ngo Xuan Nam.
To date, Vietnam has exported agricultural products to nearly 200 countries and territories around the world. In recent times, Vietnamese agricultural products have been highly appreciated by many countries for their quality, food safety and disease safety. Although only 10kg of longan fruit was warned by a group of people with inadequate awareness, it has affected the reputation of Vietnamese agricultural products.
Mr. Ngo Xuan Nam said that professional Vietnamese agricultural exporters have basically understood the market regulations. For example, agricultural exports to the EU market have grasped the regulations on residue levels of indicators, accordingly, the organization of production from raw material areas to preliminary processing and processing has met those regulations.
Or exporting to China also complies with the provisions of the Protocol on food safety as well as inspection or meets the provisions of Order 248, 249 on food safety management measures of this market...
However, there are some cases where groups of people visit relatives, they send goods or students go to school and bring Vietnamese agricultural products. Or small businesses, that is, bring a very small quantity of goods, typically the case of the shipment of 10kg of longan fruit that was warned. This shows that cases like this need to have the right understanding and awareness about bringing Vietnamese agricultural products abroad.
Regarding handling of infringing goods, there are many different forms of warning and measures, depending on the level of violation. At a mild level, it is notifying the manufacturer, at a higher level, it is being destroyed in the importing country or having the goods returned.
In order to avoid unfortunate incidents that affect the reputation and position of Vietnamese agricultural products in the international market, Mr. Ngo Xuan Nam recommends that when people and businesses bring Vietnamese agricultural products abroad, they must clearly understand the regulations of that country on food safety control and disease safety, because each member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has different regulations on quarantine subjects, residue levels, procedures, etc.
“We need to understand that when joining the WTO, we must commit to complying with the Agreement on Food Safety and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) in agricultural trade,” Mr. Nam emphasized, noting that Vietnam is currently participating in 17 free trade agreements, including commitments on SPS.
And SPS commitments are mandatory measures, without discrimination, regardless of composition, individual or organization, domestic or foreign... when violated, they will be handled according to the commitments that Vietnam has participated in.
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