Representatives of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP), the National Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate (NAFIQAVED), and nearly 100 seafood-processing enterprises attended the meeting.

The meeting came after warnings by Japanese officials that the country would stop importing Vietnamese seafood if it fails to meet quality requirements. Recently, 14 more Vietnamese seafood companies were found using antibiotic residue in their products exported to Japan.

On April 25, the Russian Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service (VPSS) issued a document stipulating that Vietnamese enterprises can only export seafood to Russia when they are approved by VPSS in terms of food safety. As a consequence, Vietnamese enterprises exported only 21,000 tonnes of aquatic products at low prices to Russia in the first five months of the year.

A delegation of VPSS is expected to arrive in Vietnam on July 7 and spend a week inspecting Vietnam’s seafood processing factories, harbours and markets.