Measures sought to remove barriers for meat imports

The guests came from the US, Brazil, the UK, France, the Republic of Korea, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

At the reception, the counselors expressed concerns about the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)’s Circular 04 which amends and supplements regulations regarding quarantine of animals and animal products.

They noted that the circular has slowed the registration process for businesses from countries authorised to export meat and meat products to Vietnam, leading to delays in customs clearance for incoming goods. They fear that it will limit market access for new products and disrupt the export of certain items already being shipped to Vietnam.

Chu Nguyen Thach, head of the Animal Quarantine Division under the Department of Animal Health (DAH) said that the time for processing applications is up to 30 working days from the date of receiving complete documentation for non-EU countries, and up to 45 days for EU members.

However, recent challenges in importing animal products into Vietnam have arisen due to inconsistent product names. To tackle this issue, Thach noted that the DAH has sent a request to embassies and relevant authorities for updates to the list of animal products with specific names to ensure consistency among exporting countries, businesses, and product names, as well as export quarantine certificates and import applications.

So far, 12 out of 26 countries have submitted updated lists containing thousands of animal products with specific names. The DAH is reviewing them for publication on its website, he said.

Regarding the quarantine of imported meat and meat products, Thach said that in the first nine months of this year, Vietnam imported over 460,000 tonnes of meat and animal by-products for food production, marking a 4.2% increase compared to the same period last year. Thus, the implementation of Circular No 04 has not negatively impacted the volume of animal products imported from countries.

Since the introduction of the circular on May 16 this year, the quarantine agency has conducted tests for Salmonella and E. coli on imported animal products. Results revealed that 64 batches have tested positive for salmonella, accounting for nearly 0.61% of the total 10,534 batches, he noted.

Without salmonella testing, a large amount of animal meat contaminated with the bacteria would have been imported into Vietnam, he added.

Nguyen Van Long, director of the DAH, said that over 99% of imported batches had tested negative and undergone veterinary inspections within 1-3 days. Vietnam has received great technical support from the US and EU so its quarantine capacity and regulations meet international standards.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien has ordered the DAH to continue coordinating with veterinary advisors and agencies of other countries to resolve issues related to the import of meat and meat products, especially those related to Circular 04, in a bid to facilitate cooperation and promote trade.