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Veterinary Agency’s rules flunk ‘fair trade’ test
A recent instruction on quarantine of frozen seafood imports, intended to strengthen consumer protection, turns out to have ignored fundamental World Trade Organization procedures, to the Agriculture Minister’s chagrin.
The story begins with a letter crying for help sent to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) from the Hai Viet Company in HCM City on August 7.
In the letter, the company wrote that on July 27, a Japanese partner of Hai Viet air-freighted a 100 kilogramme sample consignment of frozen salmon on July 27. The small consignment, sent for evaluation of new products, arrived at Tan Son Nhat Airport on July 27.
However, the consignment of salmon became ‘rubbish’ when Hai Viet was unable to persuade Vietnam’s veterinary agency to grant a food health inspection certificate.
Hai Viet contacted the animal health agency urgently to request such a certificate, but without success. Nor was its Japanese partner able to provide a food quarantine certificate granted by the competent Japanese agency, because the products had been exported already.
Finally, Hai Viet had to destroy the consignment of frozen salmon.
Hai Viet’s case is not unique. Many consignments of frozen seafood (fish, shrimp, squid, abalone), imported as ingredients for export products, have also gotten stuck at seaports and airports.
The problem: Ignorance of WTO rules
The source of the problem is Instruction No 898 of June 3, 2009 issued by the Veterinary Agency, a unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. It updates regulations on food quarantine, including a requirement that all frozen food imports must be quarantined before customs clearance.
In fact, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation), WHO (World Health Organisation), OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) and international trade practice all say that frozen seafood which has undergone flash freezing to or below minus 25o C no longer constitutes a danger to the health of humans or animals.
Vietnam’s previous position on imported seafood (promulgated by the former Ministry of Fisheries, now a unit of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department) also stipulated that the only products required to go through quarantine were fresh and live, i.e unprocessed products. Quarantine was not required for frozen or fully cooked processed seafood products.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat on August 12 convened an urgent meeting with VASEP, the Veterinary Agency, the National Agro-forestry and Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (NAFIQAD), the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Office, and the ministry’s legal department.
Phat concluded at the meeting that the issuance of Instruction No 898 was irregular. Vietnam should have informed other World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries 60 days in advance about the contemplated changes to its SPS regulations. Vietnam failed to follow the international practice announced by OIE, nor did it give detailed guidance and necessary transition time, so that enterprises could adapt to the new regulation.
Phat ordered the Veterinary Agency to hold up the implementation of Instruction 898. (His order was carried out on the same day).
Phat said that the compilation of a new document must follow the legal procedures required by international practice. The competent agencies must publish the proposed changes, clearly stating their purpose, and consult other WTO member countries. Enterprises must be fully informed in advance.
The representative of the Veterinary Agency said that the agency did not understand the WTO obligations when it promulgated the document. (Vietnam joined the WTO two years ago, and the Veterinary Agency has long kept close contact with FAO, WHO and OIE.)
The loss Hai Viet and other enterprises have suffered in this case are not so great. The significance of this event is its that it happened at all. If policy makers do not understand international law well, business may suffer losses and a host of immeasurable consequences.
With strengthened consumer protection in mind, competent Vietnamese agencies are updating sanitary and phytosanitary regulations with respect to the nation’s imported foods. However, this could be a double edged sword if we seek to implement unsuitable regulations. If they are not in line with international practice, not only could they fail to protect consumers, but they may also become the object of complaints by other countries
Ha Yen
thanhnien
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