Exporting agricultural and aquatic products to the EU: Enterprises need to master the regulations of the market

Vietnam's agriculture and fisheries are continuously warned by the EU

The Notification Office and National Inquiry Point on Sanitation, Epidemiology and Quarantine of Vietnam Animals and Plants (Vietnam SPS Office) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has just said, October 18. In 2021, SPS Vietnam Office received 02 official dispatches from the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the fact that Vietnam's exported agricultural and aquatic products have residue levels of agrochemicals exceeding EU regulations.

Dutch health authorities discovered chlorpyrifos ethyl chemical in a shipment of bitter melon of SAKA SAKA Co., Ltd. exported to the EU market (Artwork)

Specifically, Official Letter No. 6195/BCT-AM dated October 6, 2021 on the recall of 01 batch of Queen brand ST25 fragrant rice in Belgium with the following main contents: After exporting a shipment of ST25 high-quality fragrant rice Queen's trademark into Belgium, importer Vinamex Group has conducted its own quality inspection of rice batches in consultation with the Belgian Federal Agency for Food Chain Safety (FASFC). The test results showed that the consignment had a pesticide residue level of 0.017 mg/kg tricyclazole, according to EU regulations, the maximum allowed residue level is 0.01 mg/kg. Therefore, Vinamex Group actively posted a recall notice and asked customers not to consume this batch of product and return it to the warehouse for a refund.

With previous experience of exporting organic rice and understanding of strict EU regulations, Vinamex Group has checked the quality of this batch of rice very seriously. Before exporting this shipment to Belgium, Vinamex Group conducted an inspection in Vietnam and confirmed that the product meets the EU's requirements for residues of pesticides. However, when the shipment was imported into the Belgian market, Vinamex Group manually checked the quality of the shipment again and found that the content of tricyclazole exceeded the EU's allowable threshold.

The product recall of Vinamex Group comes from the proactive inspection and control of imported products. Therefore, the recall information is actively posted by the importer on the Belgian FASFC's website, this product has not been included in the European Commission's Rapid Alert for Food and Feed (RASFF). .

And in Official Letter No. 6353/BCT-AM dated October 12, 2021, warning about residues of harmful substances in some agricultural and aquatic products of Vietnam exported to the EU market. Specifically, the Dutch Health Agency detected chlorpyrifos ethyl chemical in the shipment of bitter melon of SAKA SAKA Co., Ltd. exported to the EU market; Italian health authorities detected undeclared sulphites for export shipments of crustaceans and seafood of Minh Chau Import and Export Seafood Processing Co., Ltd (license number DL154); The Spanish health agency discovered the banned substance Profenofos (in addition to chlorpyrifos ethyl) also from SAKA SAKA Co., Ltd;

Previously, the SPS Vietnam Office received two EU food and feed safety warnings for Vietnamese exports due to violations of food safety regulations. Accordingly, the Norwegian and French health agencies detected nitrofurans (furazolidone) in the shipment of frozen frog legs and propargite and fenobucarb in the shipment of pomelos imported from Vietnam.

Also according to the announcement of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Health of Spain, the relevant authorities at the EU border gates have all been notified and will improve quarantine measures for the relevant imported goods lines. from Vietnam.

Businesses need to understand the regulations of the market

Currently, the export value of Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery products is constantly increasing, currently ranked second in Southeast Asia and 13th in the world with 10 groups of agricultural, forestry and fishery products with export turnover of over 1 million. billion USD.

Vietnam has signed and participated in the negotiation of 17 free trade agreements; In particular, there are two new generation agreements, namely the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Experts said that the proactive integration of the international economy, active trade promotion, and removal of barriers has opened up a large world market for consumption of Vietnamese agricultural, forestry and fishery products. But accordingly, Vietnam also has to fulfill its commitments on animal and plant quarantine and the highest level of commitment of Vietnam ever.

However, many businesses and producers do not pay due attention, do not have much experience in responding to phytosanitary measures and often fall into a passive position when faced with warnings of violations of standards. Quality safety and quarantine requirements from the market, even returned goods.

According to Mr. Dao The Anh - Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute of Agricultural Sciences (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), enterprises need to orient the market first, which market they intend to sell to, they must apply production to the process in that market. ask. Particularly for fresh fruits, the requirements for quality and food safety are always the most stringent. Therefore, before exporting, enterprises need to actively analyze food safety indicators.

Currently, analytical services and qualified analytical laboratories for export products are still limited. In the future, even these analysis rooms need to be in the raw material area to reduce costs. Therefore, the State needs to have policies to encourage the development of this service sector.

As for the SPS Vietnam Office, it is also recommended that the units should pay attention to grasp and strictly comply with the regulations of the import market, to ensure that they are not recalled, warned of violations, and avoided affecting the reputation of the country. business credit.

For aquatic products, it is necessary to control, manage and use in accordance with regulations on quality of animal feed in aquaculture and strictly control hazards that cause food insecurity during preliminary processing. , Processing.

For rice products, vegetables and fruits, it is necessary to control, manage and use in accordance with regulations on plant protection chemicals, strictly control hazards that cause food insecurity during preliminary processing. , pack; strengthen traceability, management of growing areas...

The raw material area is identified as the starting point and foundation for the development of effective and sustainable value chains, improving the quality of agricultural products, implementing product traceability, thereby promoting processing in order to improve the quality of agricultural products. increase value, increase product competitiveness. Representatives of many large enterprises operating in the agricultural product chain said that the authorities should promote the construction of a standard agricultural raw material area for domestic consumption and export. This is the motivation for businesses to continue to boldly invest in expanding more markets for Vietnam's key agricultural products.