US highly values Vietnam’s tra fish safety control

An American inspection team has spoken highly of Vietnam’s food safety control system for the country’s tra fish (pangasius) exports to the U.S., despite its few minor errors, the Vietnamese agriculture ministry reported recently. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien was speaking to local media in reference to a recent inspection by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) over Vietnam’s food safety control of tra fish. FSIS inspectors conducted audits at 10 establishments that process and export tra fish to the U.S., five tra fish farms that provide raw materials for processors and exporters in Can Tho, Dong Thap, Tien Giang, and Soc Trang, all located in the Mekong Delta. With some inconsiderable shortcomings, Vietnam’s food safety control system for tra fish is still qualified to ensure the continued export of this species to the U.S., director of the department Nguyen Nhu Tiep said at a meeting on August 30. In that context, the VASEP forecast that tra fish exports to the U.S. may reach only $2 billion this year, a decrease of 15 percent compared to 2022.