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| Eleven batches of Việt Nam’s seafood products exported to the European Union (EU) between January and September this year had heavy metal residues over permissible limit, the EU has warned. — Photo vnexpress.net |
HÀ NỘI — Eleven batches of Việt Nam’s seafood products exported to the European Union (EU) between January and September this year had heavy metal residues over permissible limit, the EU has warned.
The warning came after checks by the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) of the European Commission’s (EC) Directorate General for Health and Food Safety. The directorate general has sent a report to the National Agro, Forestry, Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (Nafiqad).
“The batches had residues of heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium over the maximum permissible limit,” said a Nafiqad official, who did not wish to be identified.
Nafiqad director Nguyễn Như Tiệp said the number of batches detected with heavy metal residues has gone up since May 24 this year, when EU authorities directed its member nations to inspect heavy metal residues in exported Vietnamese seafood products.
To avoid a situation that could affect the reputation of Vietnamese seafood products and other seafood export businesses, the Nafiqad asked enterprises processing seafood products for export to the EU to review their quality control programmes and keep a check on heavy metal residues in their products, Tiệp said.
Businesses must pay special attention and inspect the raw materials imported to make these seafood products, he said, adding that Nafiqad has asked enterprises to do quality checks on raw materials purchased in the four central coastal provinces of Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên Huế.
Nafiqad has also instructed agro, forestry and fisheries quality centres across the country to be strict with their inspection and certification processes for export seafood, and prioritise checks for heavy metal residues in export batches that have materials from aquaculture and from these four central coastal provinces. — VNS
