The seminar helped relevant Vietnamese agencies and businesses gain a full understanding of the EU's regulations on food hygiene management as well as its import procedures, said Director of the Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate under the Ministry of Fisheries Nguyen Tu Cuong.

In recent years, the European Commission (EC) has promulgated a series of regulations and laws on food hygiene in order to minimise risks for European consumers.

The EU is now the world's largest importer of agricultural and aquatic products from developing countries. In 2005, the union imported around 1.3 billion euros worth of seafood.