HCMC – The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has written to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development expressing concerns over a new limit on doxycycline antibiotics in aqua-product exports to Japan.
According to shrimp exporters, they are having a hard time exporting shrimp to Japan due to the recently-issued regulations on the limitation of doxycycline antibiotics.
VASEP said that many countries neither ban using doxycycline in fishery farming nor inspect residues of these antibiotics in imported aqua-products.
Some markets, including the European Union (EU), China and New Zealand allow a maximum residue limit of 100 ppb on aqua-product imports. This limit is appropriate for aqua-products under the current tight control over fishery farming, said VASEP.
According to Japan’s current regulations, the maximum acceptable threshold for chemical residues and antibiotics without established maximum residue limit (MRL) levels in imported seafood is more than 10 times more stringent than those adopted by other countries, just equal to one tenth of the maximum acceptable threshold of many other markets.
To remove challenges for aqua-product exporters, VASEP would like the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to forward their concerns to Japanese authorities, requesting to adjust the MRL for doxycycline to match those limits regulated by the EU, China and New Zealand.
