The U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has given approval for another six companies from Vietnam to export their pangasius products to the United States.
Vietnam’s National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (NAFIQAD) notified the exporters of FSIS’ decision in early May. The permission has been granted provided the exporters strictly adhere to U.S. and Vietnam food safety standards in their production processes, according to Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
NAFIQAD said in March it had sent applications from the six companies to the FSIS for consideration. The newly approved exporters include Seafood United Corp, Atlantic Seafood Freezing Factory N.V, Basa Mekong Factory (BASA MEKONG), High Grade Pangasius Product Exporting & Processing Factory, CO May Import Export Company Limited – CO May 2 Seafood Processing Export Factory, and CK Frozen Foods Viet Nam Company Limited.
Their additions bring the total number of Vietnamese firms eligible to export pangasius to the U.S. to 19, from 13 previously.
In November 2019, FSIS announced that Vietnam, Thailand, and China were eligible to export siluriformes fish, including pangasius and basa, to the U.S. The U.S. agency postponed an on-site audit in Vietnam in 2020 due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. FSIS conducted an online audit from 23 March to 28 April, 2021, before concluding in October that the country’s inspection system for siluriformes fish, mainly pangasius, continues to meet the U.S. import requirements, NAFIQAD said.
Given rising demand for whitefish in the U.S. and the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict to the global whitefish supply, VASEP expects the new approvals will help Vietnam boost its pangasius exports to the U.S. Between 1 January and 15 April, 2022, Vietnam exported pangasius worth USD 195.3 million (EUR 186 million) to the U.S., up 131.4 percent from the same period in 2021.
Photo courtesy of VASEP
