FARM OWNER
II. Current Status Of Traceability Systems For Aquaculture Products In Viet Nam
For other major species to be cultured in Viet Nam, production to be showed as follow:
• Tilapia: 72.730 tons
• Marine fish production: 33.848 tons
• Other brackish water fish: 31.895 tons
• Lobster: 1.482,5 tons
• Molluscs: 165.000 tons
• Cage culture: 176.000 tons, of which: freshwater fish culture: 160.000 tons
• Brackish and Marine fish: 16.000 tons
II. Current Status Of Traceability Systems For
Agriculture and Rural Development - MARD). The stage from harvest to processing is managed by National Agro- Forestry- Fisheries Quality Control Department (MARD). The stage from goods on sale in the market to consumers is managed by Ministry of Industry and Trade. Therefore, the tracing of origin from a product being on sale in the market back to the processing factory, farm, unit/individuals supplying inputs for production encounters with considerable difficulty, requiring linkage among Ministry of Industry and Trade with Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Therefore, Circular 03 is the legal basis to enable MARD to perform traceability for fisheries product from farming to processing.
Traceability in processing
As aquaculture activities of Viet Nam are closely linked with market, so in order to exist, traceability is compulsory. Traceability enables i) to recall accurately and fully products failing to meet food quality and safety requirements from of the chain of production, processing, distribution of products; ii) to identify steps which is not under control resulting in unsafe food to establish solution for correction.
Therefore, the traceability activity in the step of materials- processing is seriously implemented by processing enterprises. When there is an warning of contamination with antibiotic residue for an export
back and do corrective action. While NAFIQAD will increase sampling frequency for antibiotic residue before issuing the health certificate for the next lot.
If a enterprise which is continuously found to have its products contaminated with antibiotic, it may be prohibited to export such goods. With such tough measures, processing enterprises comply strictly in terms of record keeping, coding lots for tracing upon warning.
The processing enterprise may keep records and code in traditional way or GS1/EAN code including EAN 13 digits and EAN 8 digits or QR code.
Traceability in aquaculture
To develop aquaculture sustainability and link closely to market-oriented development, VietGAP is a comprehensive solution for controlling the quality of input materials, maintaining good health for aquatic animals, ensuring a better life for labors or farmers, ensuring the integrity of environment as well as easy to trace back by completely profile system.
VietGAP for Aquaculture was based on the Code of conduct for responsible fisheries (FAO): General principle, Technical guideline on aquaculture certification (FAO - Feb, 2011): general principal, structure and certification regulation, AseanGAP for shrimp: Structure with 4 main components, other recognized standards (GlobalGAP and ASC, GFSI,
Figure 6. Product chain and traceability
Viet Nam Good Aquaculture Practice standard is a single aquaculture module which complies with existing legislation and allows the application of VietGAP standard to different species. Due to, there are many international standards in Viet Nam were being introduced causing confusion and neglecting the small scale producers and sustainability of the industry became an issue for concern. So the concept of VietGAP for aquaculture emerged, it became a national standard that applied to on growing stage to the postharvest stage. VietGAP documents including 5 parts:
• General requirements on legal documents
• Food safety
• Animal health and welfare
• Environmental integrity
• Socio-Economic aspects.
According to Decree No. 36, by December 31, 2015, every commercial pangasius grow-out farm must obtain the Certificate of Good Aquaculture Practice according to VietGAP or an equivalent international certificate. Pangasius grow-out farm must register for grow-out culture at least 20 days prior to stocking and register for identification code with local fisheries authority. According to compulsory regulations, Tra catfish farmers are requested to record and keep profile in order to register VietGAP certification or other international standards since 31st Dec 2015.
In the case farmers have not got certificate on VietGAP or other international standards for Tra catfish product, processors cannot export their product by Viet Nam authority.
According to Decision No. 3824 (version 2 of VietGAP), farm when applying VietGAP shall record adequate information of production process until harvest of each culture pond and keep record.
Records related to traceability shall include:
• Records of receipt/delivery, use, storage of products, inputs;
• Records of handling of expired products/hazardous waste;
• Records of movement of farmed aquatic animals and identification of locations, products with/
without VietGAP application;
• Records of seed;
• Diary of each culture pond;
• Records related to control and handling of diseases;
• Records of harvest, transportation including details of buyers.
• Records shall be stored within 24 months from harvest date. Therefore, all farms certified by GAPs have adequate records that are easy for tracing when required. Up to August 1st, 2015, Viet Nam catfish producer applied and get GAP certified for nearly 2500 ha of aquaculture water surface area.
Website http://vietgap.tongcucthuysan.gov.vn/
to be set up by the Directorate of Fisheries and it is the offline management website for VietGAP certified producers. DoF will approve and give user a username and password to access website.
User easy to trace information for VietGAP certified producers.
For 02 regulation (QCVN 02-19: 2014/BNNPTNT, QCVN 02-20: 2014/BNNPTNT), due to the main objectives of these regulations are toward products meeting food safety requirements so they only require that the farm culturing brackish shrimp, pangasius shall record information related to purchase of seed, use of medicines, chemicals, probiotics during the culture. Such regulations are not sufficient to trace, identify causes for correction when a lot is found to be contaminated with antibiotics.
Besides, Directorate of Fisheries set up a website http://csdlthucan.tongcucthuysan.gov.vn/ to manage registered feed, probiotic, environment treatment chemicals. Based on information on this website, aquaculture producers easy to look up productions List of exporters/processors now are exporting to some main markets:
No. Market Amount of Viet Nam
exporters/processors Validity date from
1 Korea 623 June 07th 2015
2 EU 448 (farmed aquaculture product,
exclusive bivalve molluscs) July 10th 2015
3 EU 20 (for bivalve molluscs product)
4 Economy alliance Asia-EU (Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, Kyryztani)
26 July 21st 2015
Source: National Agro Forestry Fisheries Quality Assurance Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
and make a purchasing decision. However, this website cannot trace back information.
Directorate of Fisheries cooperates with provincial aquaculture/fisheries management department to conduct several of training courses annually.
Traceability is one of contents.
III. Challenges faced in implementation and solutions and other relevant information For traceability, it is compulsory for producer to make records, and keep dossiers according to principle of one step forward- one step back to ensure traceability for the previous step and the following step during production. However, small and scattered producers normally spend little time for recording and records keeping. In case records are made and kept, the farm normally does not store carefully keep or lose records after the crop is over.
There are plenty of legal documents on traceability for major aquaculture commodities such as brackish shrimp, pangasius, tilapia but not adequate of legal documents on this issue for remain commodities.
Moreover, most of producers who culture remain commodities are small scale farmer with limited education background so it is difficult to require them to comply with requirement in recording and record keeping. Besides, farmers rarely get the bill or voucher when purchase input materials such as fingerling, drug. Therefore, when implement the traceability program in aquaculture, small scale farmers meet hindrance when apply.
In some case, information of buyers and suppliers would be lost because of middle men.
Solutions:
Provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Department and Provincial Fisheries Management Authorities strengthen instruction, encouragement, monitoring and supervision of small and scattered producers in making and keeping records. However, this solution is not really efficient and only temporary.
Domestic customers through supermarket system to require farmers who sell their products into supermarket need to keep dossier.
IV. Future Plans / Programmes for implementation of Traceability Systems for aquaculture products in Viet Nam
Besides the above Decree No 36/2014/ND-CP for Tra/catfish only, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) of Viet Nam have a plan to issue a Circular on farm coding. MARD request provincial DARDs (department of agriculture and rural development) strictly implementing the traceability system in aquaculture based on circular 44/2010/
TT-BNN, circular 45/2010/TT-BNN and Minister Decision No 3824/QD-BNN-TCTS for catfish, shrimp and tilapia commodities.
To build up a recording and dossier instruction handbook and delivery to farmer.
To build up a website for a traceability purpose.