Vietnamese catfish meet EU food safety regulations

Spain’s Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs affirmed on January 30 that Vietnamese catfish meet food safety regulations set by the Europe Union (EU).

According to Spain’s Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs, in contrast to their claim that the Spanish Government was not concerned about food safety, Spanish authorities carried out hygiene tests on imported Vietnamese catfish and discovered some causes of disease in the shipment of July 2008 but they were not harmful to people’s health.

The Vietnamese catfish issue had caused a stir in Spain when some parliamentarians, who were also members of the EU parliament, recently made a number of inquiries in the European Commission.

The issue was then resolved after Spain’s Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs confirmed on January 30 that the catfish shipment in question which came from Vietnam in July 2008 and was suspected to be polluted, would not cause any harm to people’s health.

Spain is one of the largest markets in Europe for Vietnamese catfish, and according to the Spanish Marine Aquaculture Producers Association (APROMAR), the country imports about 40,000 tonnes of Vietnamese catfish every year. (VOV)