The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) allows 12 Vietnamese companies to sell wild-caught species in this country.
It has been more than two years since the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Vietnam’s representative agencies in Saudi Arabia worked with this country’s relevant institutes, SFDA made a move to allow some Vietnamese companies to sell wild-caught species in this country.
In the next few months, the ministry of Industry and Trade will continue to work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant institutes to advise SFDA to add other Vietnamese companies in the list of seafood exporters to Saudi Arabia, leading to possible removal of the order of halting to import Vietnamese seafood.
Saudi Arabia places high demand for quality and food safety and hygiene. This country is an economic driver in the Middle East, thus its policies can affect other markets in the region.
Saudi Arabia has put a halt on importing Vietnam-originated seafood since Jan 2018 when the SFDA’s inspectorate came to Vietnam and concluded that some Vietnam’s production and processing facilities of pangasius and shrimps failed requirements of food safety, hygiene and disease prevention.
VFM
