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Ports choking on animal feed
Tens of thousands of tonnes of imported animal feed are stuck in ports; enterprises are losing $5-10,000 a day on storage fees. The reason is the imports have to wait their turn to be tested for melamine.
Nguyen Huu Loi, Director of VIC trade company, complained that VIC had 3-4,000 tonnes of imported animal feed materials stuck at Hai Phong port for one week awaiting melamine testing.
Vu Kim Thanh from Proconco, an animal feed producer, also said that 3-4 consignments of the company had been stuck at Hai Phong port. Only after the imports tested negative for melamine could they be cleared.
“If the test comes out ‘positive’, enterprises have to wait another 10-15 days to find out the exact melamine content. We also have to have a lot of other products tested for melamine, which has been putting big difficulties on us,” Thanh said.
The Vietnam Animal Feed Association has sent a dispatch to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, asking the ministry to persuade the General Department of Customs and relevant agencies to clear the material animal feed imports. The association has asked for a post-customs clearance verification mechanism so ships don’t have to be detained in ports.
On December 31, 2008, the director of the Animal Husbandry Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development released Document No 1492, asking the General Department of Customs to take samples for testing of imports of high likelihood of containing the chemical. The director has suggested that it is necessary to test only high-risk products only, for example fish and meat powder and products with dairy ingredients.
Nguyen Xuan Duong, Deputy Head of the Husbandry Department, said that while waiting for test results, customs agencies could seal imports off and then allow companies to clear them. Enterprises would then only be able to use the consignments when the test results had come back favourable.
In addition, he said that import companies could submit a document to border gates’ customs agencies verifying the quality of imports before they were cleared.
Under Decision No 3762 on melamine management in animal feed and seafood, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development announced that Vietnam accepts the melamine content of 2.5mg/kg at maximum. The ministry has also identified12 laboratories authorised to carry out melamine tests on animal feed and seafood.
Ha Yen
vietnamnet
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