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VN urges WWF to spell out catfish quality norm
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers Tuesday urged the World Wide Fund for Nature to immediately publish its quality standards and criteria for tra catfish production in Vietnam and “correct its mistake” of advising European consumers to look for alternative seafood.
The WWF’s Seafood Guides 2010-11 for the EU has moved the catfish from the yellow to red list in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Norway, and Denmark.
VASEP Deputy Chairman Nguyen Huu Dung said the warnings are unscientific and based on unfair evidence.
“The decision by the WWF could cost both producers and consumers heavily and impact the WWF’s prestige and transparency,” he warned.
The association has said it will help WWF representatives make a fact-finding tour of Vietnam to verify fish farms as well as the tra processing, preservation, and export processes.
“We believe that with greater cooperation between Vietnam and WWF and other international organizations, Vietnamese pangasius will be in the green list.” Dung said.
The assessment for the guides is made by an independent Swiss consulting firm which has reportedly not sent experts to Vietnam, he said, adding that he will verify if that is indeed correct with the Ministry of Public Security.
VASEP has already criticized the WWF’s move as being unreasonable since Vietnamese aquaculture exports meet international quality standards like the SQF 1000 certification from the US-based Food Marketing Institute (FMI), Global Good Agricultural Practices (Global GAP) recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization, and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, which the US Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture have made mandatory for food.
Global GAP will be applied on all catfish farms in Vietnam by 2015. The certification is meant primarily to reassure consumers that production of their chosen food has minimal environmental impact, done with limited use of chemicals, and ensures workers’ health and safety and animal welfare.
The environmental impact of catfish farming and processing on rivers is closely monitored by the National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department which operates under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Vietnamese pangasius is an omnivorous species that feeds on agricultural byproducts that are available in the Mekong Delta, the main catfish farming area, thus causing little damage to the ecological chain unlike carnivorous species.
Most Vietnamese catfish processors already have or are creating a closed production cycle from breeding to processing that includes technology to trace fish origin.
Asked if the WWF’s move is aimed at forcing the adoption of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) standards created by the WWF and the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative last year, Dung said the former WWF has worked with Vietnamese experts, producers, and farmers for the last two year to apply the standards here by next year and so must very clearly know about improvements in Vietnam.
Vietnam exported 538,200 tons of tra to more than 120 markets, including the US and the EU, for US$1.15 billion in the first 10 months of this year.
The EU is the biggest market for Vietnam, buying catfish worth $423 million in the first 10 months of this year, or 36.8 percent of total exports.
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