The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has temporarily suspended imports of fish, crustaceans, and other products of aquatic animal origin from Vietnam due to the presence of two diseases in the Southeast Asian nation.
The ban, effective 23 January, was based on the World Organization for Animal Health’s "Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report (Asia-Pacific Region) April - June 2017", which shows that white spot disease and acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease are present in Vietnam, SFDA said in a notification of emergency measures on 30 January.
SFDA had dispatched a technical team to Vietnam to observe the control measures applied by the Vietnamese government for export facilities of fish, crustacean and other products of aquatic animal origin, and made the recommendations, according to the note.
Vietnam Sanitary and Phytosanitary Notification Authority and Enquiry Point has asked relevant parties in the country to jointly address the issue to minimize the negative effects of the ban, Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers said in a statement Thursday.
Vietnam exported seafood products worth USD 64.68 million (EUR 51.86 million) to Saudi Arabia in 2017, rising 5.5 percent from USD 61.31 million (EUR 49.15 million) in 2016, latest customs data from Vietnam showed.
