China has dropped its policy of banning shipments from Vietnamese seafood companies if their products are found to be contaminated with COVID-19.
The Chinese decision was reflected in a notice issued via the Chinese embassy in Vietnam, with Chinese authorities saying the decision was made as a way to help boost trade between the two countries. The announcement marks the end of a policy that began soon after the COVID-19 pandemic began spreading globally, through which Vietnamese exporters found to have sent seafood shipments declared by Chinese Customs to be tainted by COVID-19 have been barred from exporting to China for various periods of time.
Numerous Vietnamese exporters, including pangasius and shrimp exporters, have been suspended by Chinese authorities for between one and three months after their shipments were found by Chinese Customs to be contaminated with COVID-19.
The change came into effect beginning in July 2022, VnExpress reported on 20 July.
Vietnam’s National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (NAFIQAD) Director Nguyen Nhu Tiep confirmed the Chinese move but said his agency has asked the Chinese side to issue an official statement on the lifting of the ban, according to the Vietnamese newspaper. Tiep said NAFIQAD will work with Chinese customs officials to conduct online inspections that will look into Vietnamese companies’ manufacturing processes to ensure the hygiene and safety of their products.
An unnamed director of a Vietnamese seafood exporter in Mekong Delta was quoted by VnExpress as saying the change is good news for his firm. The director said his company had previously been suspended from exporting to China for three weeks as a result of an alleged COVID-19 contamination, but, at present, his company’s shipments to China have returned to normal.
"China is working to minimize the damage caused by the zero-COVID strategy they have implemented for the last two years. Therefore, exporting to the country has now faced less pressures [than before]," the director said.
VASEP said it expects Vietnam’s seafood exports will increase sharply in the second half of 2022 as a result of the easing of the restrictions.
Photo courtesy of Nguyen Quang Ngoc Tonkin/Shutterstock
