Vietnam's tra is exported to more than 120 countries, including the US and those in the European Union. (Photo: WWF, Scott Dickerson)

WWF condemns tra to the 'red list'

VIET NAM
Monday, December 06, 2010, 23:20 (GMT + 9)

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has expressed opposition to the World Wide Fund's (WWF) move of removing tra (pangasius) from the yellow list and placing it in the red list in its new seafood guides. WWF endorses consuming fish only from its green and yellow lists.

VASEP Chairman Truong Dinh Hoe said the association has written Mark Powell, global seafood coordinator of WWF, informing him of its opposition to the Fund’s move. 

Moreover, VASEP as well as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)  has encouraged WWF representatives to visit Vietnam's aquaculture sites and the tra processing, preserving and exporting process to evaluate the situation for themselves. 

WWF has accepted representatives intend to make the trip next May.

The association assumes tra was downgraded due to "problems" regarding environmental conditions, feed, chemicals and medical compounds pertaining to its aquaculture methods, reports VNS.

Yet evidence exists to support WWF’s accusation. Powell said the move was attributed to "problems with governance".

"Changes can take place when we have new information," he told.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director of the Directorate of Fisheries Pham Anh Tuan argued that scientific evidence to justify placing tra on the red list was lacking, reports VN Economy News. 

Seafood guides contain different or more comprehensive ratings contingent on what was available for sale in the market, which some believe makes the ratings unclear. Thus, organic pangasius or tra was on green-listed in Germany but on the yellow and red lists in Belgium (the fish sold by the Delhaize Group was on the red list).

In Vietnam, most tra processing and exporting firms have constructed quality systems for the life cycle of the fish through its processing stage, reports VNS.

And many of these companies have been awarded the Global Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification, whose standards were mainly created to restore confidence in consumers about the production of their chosen food products insofar as its minimal negative environmental impact, limited use of chemicals, worker health and safety and animal welfare.

The country’s pangasius is exported to more than 120 countries, including the US and those in the European Union (EU).

Related articles:

- Brazil will inspect Vietnamese pangasius shipments 
- Tra exports to Russia face hurdles 

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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