Vietnam urged to examine US beef imports
Vietnam urged to examine US beef imports
Concerned agencies have proposed to examine the US beef imports to Vietnam to clear the worries about the unsafe food raised by the information about the ill cows in California.
Reuters some days ago reported that a California-based company decided to recall nearly 4 million kilos of beef from sick cows which were not thoroughly examined by the state agencies.
Nguyen Dang Vang, Chair of the Vietnam Livestock Association, while saying that the US beef imports to Vietnam have always been meeting the requirements on food hygiene, still has proposed to examine the imports to Vietnam before they are distributed in the domestic market.
Vang said if the beef is certified by the US competent agencies as meeting the standards before it is exported to Vietnam, the products will be safe.
According to him, an agreement has been signed between the US and Vietnam, under which the products certified by one of the two countries would not have to be examined by the other.
However, Vang thinks that it would be better to examine the imports from the US to be sure that the products are safe for consumers.
Nguyen Xuan Binh, Director of the Animal Health Agency Zone 6, headquartered in HCM City, said his agency is still waiting for the US side to provide detailed information about the epidemic stricken areas, the factories that made and distributed unsafe beef.
After receiving the information, the agency will check if the products have been imported to Vietnam.
According to the agency, it is very likely that the Animal Health Department would release the order to halt the import of beef from some certain states in the US. Meanwhile, the beef from the other states will still be imported to Vietnam as usual.
The representatives of some trade companies and supermarkets have affirmed that the problems with the US beef would not affect the distribution in the Vietnamese market, because Vietnamese mostly consume the imports from Australia.
“The beef available at Citimart is from Australia. Therefore, the demand remains unchanged,” said Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa from Citimart chain.
Khuat Quang Hung from Metro Cash & Carry has also affirmed that the beef products available at the chain are from Australia.
Meanwhile, the director of a company specializing in distributing US beef through the Internet, said he still keeps importing beef from the US as usual, while they has been no information about this from the US suppliers.
However, the director said the import volume from the US is small. Since the US beef is too expensive, it has been provided to restaurants and hotels instead of retailing in the market.
The man said Australian beef is 15-20 percent cheaper than the US beef, which makes it more competitive.
According to Beef, a US magazine, USMEF, the US Meat Export Federation, reported that the US beef exported to Vietnam in 2013 increased sharply, while the figure is believed to be even higher in 2014.
Also according to Beef, it is difficult to know of the volume of US beef imported to Vietnam, because a high volume of beef is imported for re-exported later.
vietnamnet
