Panama has permitted 17 seafood processing facilities in Viet Nam to export seafood products to the country, according to the Panama Food Safety Authority (AUPSA). — Photo diendandoanhnghiep.com.vn

The announcement came in an official letter sent by AUPSA to Viet Nam's National Agro, Forestry, and Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (NAFIQAD).

NAFIQAD Director Nguyen Nhu Tiep said the department had proposed the 17 eligible enterprises should actively interact with their customers and importers in Panama. Meanwhile, they must also be registered with the NAFIQAD under existing regulations for seafood product exports to Panama, reported vietnamplus.vn.

Tiep said the department would require its regional agro, forestry and fisheries quality centres to inspect export batches and issue export licences for them based on AUPSA's standards.

In addition, he said the department had also asked AUPSA to quickly announce the problems associated with seafood processing and export facilities in Viet Nam that Panama inspected in June, which were not granted permission to export seafood to Panama.

The announcement of those problems would help Viet Nam's enterprises find solutions to reach Panama's food standards and achieve permission to export to Panama, he said.

According to NAFIQAD's official letter to AUPSA, the department has also asked for clarifications of some regulations that were not suitable for seafood products, he said.

In another development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) will no longer grant licences for seafood shipments from exporters blocked by the European Union (EU) for using banned substances in their products.

According to a ministry decision which took effect last week, the disqualified exporters could regain their licences if they submit to inspections on the banned shipments. They also need to pass tests conducted by NAFIQAD.

Deputy Minister Vu Van Tam said the exporters had ceased seafood exports to the EU till there is an announcement from NAFIQAD.

In addition, businesses were required to provide their products for tests on each shipment.

Ngo Hong Phong, NAFIQAD's deputy director, said the department would update information on warnings from the EU Commission's Directorate General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) and provide documents to exporters.

NAFIQAD also asked seafood processors exporting to the EU to review their quality management programmes as well as build solutions to control banned substances. The DG SANTE wrote to Nafiqad on August 2 saying that the EU had decided to remove a Vietnamese seafood exporter, whose name remains undisclosed, from the list of exporters allowed in the EU. — VNS