HCMC – Fish processors at a meeting in HCMC on Monday blasted the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development over a circular that imposes tough control on imported materials, saying many plants would face shutdown if the circular is not withdrawn.
Circular 25/2010/TT-BNNPTNT, which took effect last Wednesday, requires that food materials imported into Vietnam must be registered with quality control agencies in the countries of origin. These agencies then are required to send such registrations to the National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (Nafiqad) under Vietnam’s agriculture ministry.
At the meeting on Monday, local processors and the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) called on the Government and the ministry not to apply the circular, otherwise many plants will be closed down due to the lack of materials. They petitioned that the circular not apply to such imported materials as cod, salmon and tuna.
Tran Thanh Chien, vice chair of VASEP, told the meeting that as of Monday, only ten out of 80 countries and territories that exported fishery materials to Vietnam had agreed to observe the circular, as registered with Nafiqad. That means many contracted shipments cannot be delivered to Vietnam due to the new rule, Chien said.
The circular has been forwarded to Vietnam’s trading partners via their embassies, but many countries have not had their representatives in Vietnam, said Chien. Meanwhile, several economies like Thailand, Myanmar, and Taiwan have answered that they do not observe Vietnam’s circular because they have not asked for the same from Vietnam.
The agriculture ministry has explained that many countries worldwide have imposed regulations on Vietnam’s food products, so Vietnam is now doing the same to raise the stance of the country. But Chien of VASEP rejected the reasoning, saying the regulations may apply well with other food materials like cattle and poultry meat, but not fisheries.
The meeting on Monday heard numerous outcries.
Nguyen Xuan Nam, director of Hai Vuong Company in Khanh Hoa Province, said his company began to import fishery materials since 1999 for processing and export to other countries.
“To ensure jobs for 2,000 workers all year round, we have to import 70% of our demand for fish materials. If Circular 25 still prevails, we will have to close down our factories early next month as materials will run out by then,” Nam said.
Nguyen Pham Thanh, general director of Highland Dragon in Binh Duong Province, said his company needed 5,000 to 6,000 tons of tuna a month to produce canned food. “Now materials are enough for our processing until mid-September, and we will have to scale down production or shut down one or two factories,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cao Thi Kim Loan, director of Binh Dinh Fishery Joint-stock Company, expressed concern that her company would have to pay compensation for partners when having not enough finished products for delivery.
In his petition sent to the Prime Minister, Nguyen Quang Tuyen, director of Cafico Vietnam, said the circular will only trim the material supply sources and thus eliminate competition, which will hit Vietnamese processors. That in the end will cut into the competitiveness of Vietnamese enterprises against rivals from China, the Philippines and Thailand.
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