STAFFDEL NELSON REVIEWS FOOD SAFETY ISSUES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 001372 SENSITIVE SIPDIS HHS/OSSI/DSI PASS TO OGHA (MABDOO) AND FDA (MLUMPKIN/RCAMPBELL) CDC FOR COGH AND CCEHIP/NCEH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EAGR SENV TBIO EFIN ETRD VM SUBJECT: STAFFDEL NELSON REVIEWS FOOD SAFETY ISSUES REF: A. HANOI 1320; B. HANOI 409; C. HANOI 398; D. HANOI 588 E. 2005 HANOI 2236 HANOI 00001372 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (U) Summary. A Staff Delegation from the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, consisting of Chief Investigator David Nelson and Investigative Counsel Krista Carpenter, visited Hanoi from December 4 to 8 to meet with Government of Vietnam (GVN) officials to review U.S. food safety concerns, detail recent changes in U.S. laws that likely will affect Vietnamese fish imports, and learn about Vietnam's response to melamine contamination in products imported from China. Vietnamese interlocutors noted their concerns with what they viewed as inconsistent application of the term "catfish" in U.S. legislation and regulations to limit Vietnamese seafood shipments to the United States. Following the visit to Hanoi, the delegation traveled south to review several fish and shrimp farms in the Mekong Delta to see how actual practice meshed with Vietnamese claims of proper health and environmental management for the aquaculture sector (To be reported septel by Consulate General Ho Chi Minh City). Vietnamese Authorities Review Fish Safety Scheme -------------- --- ¶2. (U) Vietnamese authorities described a two-tiered regulatory system designed to ensure food safety at the farm and at processing facilities. Fish products make up a large percentage of Vietnamese exports and the GVN works closely with importing countries to maintain access to those markets. Nguyen Nhu Tiep, Deputy Director General of the National Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (NAFIQAD),noted that the Ministry of Health (MOH),Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD),of which NAFIQAD was part, divided up responsibility for food safety, with each developing technical regulations and quality standards. MARD covered food from farm to factory, along with agricultural exports, while MOH handled agricultural products sold on the domestic market. The Department of Aquaculture within MARD monitored good aquaculture practices at the farm level, notably sanitation and hygiene. NAFIQAD took over monitoring from pond to processing plant, highlighted by routine plant inspections to ensure compliance. [Note: Consistent with international recommendations to decrease the number of ministries involved in regulatory control over food, the Ministry of Fisheries, including the predecessor to NAFIQAD, was recently reorganized into MARD. End Note] The Export Approval Process -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Tiep stated that only those processors that meet national standards could export. To ensure compliance with these standards, inspections normally take place two to four times per year, but can increase to twice monthly if the plant has problems. Samples of fish taken during the inspections are sent to one of six regional labs. If the results do not show contaminants, NAFIQAD approves the facility for export. Over the past year, NAFIQAD has performed roughly 2,000 inspections of the approximately 560 fish processing facilities. Only about two to three per month receive a "C" or lowest rating each month, which results in a suspension from exporting. Per Vietnamese regulations, Vietnam will negotiate to meet additional requirements imposed by trading partners, so long as such requirements remain consistent with the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPC Agreement). Currently, pursuant to an agreement with the European Union (EU), MARD created a systems approach to controls, based on an EU approved-based list of facilities. Per the EU agreement, only those facilities on the list can export into the EU. The list may be supplemented and reduced each year following an annual inspection covering Vietnamese regulations, inspector competence, facilities and the hygiene conditions of fish products. ¶4. (SBU) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) current practice and legal interpretation of U.S. regulations does not support pre-approval or testing of every shipment. (Note: Nelson noted that new FDA lawyers in the incoming administration might have a different view of FDA powers). Currently, pursuant to domestic regulations, the GVN has approved over 400 of the 560 processors to export to the United States. At this point, Vietnam relies upon facility inspections and the integrity of documents, records and labeling to ensure the quality of exports to the United States. It performs additional testing only if regulatory officials detect problems in internal processes or if they learn of tainted HANOI 00001372 002.2 OF 003 shipments. Following detection of chlorophenicol in fish exports to the United States in 2003, Vietnam voluntarily tested every U.S. fish shipment under temporary "emergency" regulations, but stopped in February, 2007 after Vietnam instituted various systems corrections (Ref E). Since that time, NAFIQAD claims things have been improved and has returned to a revised standard regulatory approach. Fish Farm Regulations -------------- ¶5. (SBU) At the MARD Department of Aquaculture (DA),Director General Vu Van Dung and his staff reviewed GVN oversight of fish farms. Currently, the DA is working with targeted fish-raising provinces to form an overarching aquaculture plan to support the sector. To ensure the quality of pond raised tra and basa fish, DA manages all "farm" conditions through tests of 1) ponds and surrounding areas to ensure water quality, 2) feed quality to monitor and limit contaminants, and 3) drugs and micro-organism products to prevent levels above those accepted by Vietnamese law or by the laws of importing countries. DA also manages the breeding process. Only fish farms that meet the above standards, maintain sufficient pond barrier height to prevent contamination of fish ponds, and can ensure no leakages from the ponds into surrounding areas can receive certificates entitling them to export fish. ¶6. (SBU) Responding to Nelson's concerns that some exported fish might be raised in unsanitary conditions (i.e., under houseboats on rivers and fed domestic waste or from ponds flooded by polluted river or rainwater runoff),Dung stated that all tra fish are raised in ponds. While basa fish are raised in ponds and in rivers; the "cage farming" in rivers that concerned Nelson had been banned since the end of 2007. Some of these "cage farmed" fish still made their way to local, small-scale wet markets, but were not likely to be exported. DA also had guidelines to handle water quality in typhoon and flood conditions to ensure contaminant-free fish. As with cage-farmed basa, some small scale producers of pond-raised tra might not comply with all requirements, but their products were only consumed in local, domestic markets. The DA is working to group these small farms into production cooperatives to upgrade the fish-raising facilities and technologies. Staffdel Discusses Impact of U.S. Legislation on Vietnamese Fish Exports -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Nelson stated that the recently signed U.S. Farm Bill would move jurisdiction over catfish imports from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This change could significantly limit Vietnamese catfish exports to the United States, he admitted, a fact not lost on our Vietnamese interlocutors. Many noted the apparent inconsistency of earlier USG holdings that basa and tra could not be labeled as "catfish" with the current legislation's likely determination that these fish are "catfish" for purposes of jurisdiction under the USDA food safety regime. Vietnam Struggles to Control Safety of Chinese Imports -------------- -------------- ¶8. (SBU) At the Vietnam Food Administration (VFA),Deputy Director Hoang Thuy Tien detailed Vietnamese problems with tainted products imported from China, especially the recent wave of melamine contaminated dairy products. Noting Vietnam's 600 kilometer land border, extensive nautical boundary, and similarity in crops and animals grown on both sides of the border, Vietnam tries to stem the rising tide of uncontrolled Chinese imports. Tien noted both government-to-government and province-to-province agreements to control the cross border trade. While Vietnam tries to curb illegal imports, many Chinese goods (standard and sub-standard) enter through normal, regulated trade channels or through permitted local transactions among parties along the border. Without sufficient laboratory testing capacity on the border or in major cities, the VFA struggles to determine the quality of imported food products. In addition to melamine concerns, Tien acknowledged worries about increased imports of Chinese poultry products (Ref B and C) and vegetables to respond to shortages in northern Vietnam caused by recent flooding. Tien did not believe that many Chinese products were transshipped through Vietnam, instead finding their final destinations in Vietnamese markets. HANOI 00001372 003.2 OF 003 Vietnam's Response to Melamine Contamination -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Tien noted that Chinese dairy imports actually form a relatively small part of the Vietnamese market, with most milk products arriving from New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands and the U.S. Tien claimed that Vietnam only imported milk powder and sterilized milk liquids from China (Note: Vietnam also imports some processed foods from China, such as candies, that were found to contain melamine and had no reported cases of illness due to exposure to melamine. Though Vietnam recently had uncovered several instances of melamine contamination in Chinese products, most products had relatively modest melamine levels, though one test of Yili brand milk from Sanlu found melamine at 5,000-6,000 ppm. Following detection of melamine contamination, VFA suspended dairy imports from China (Ref A). Once VFA detects contamination in an imported product, it can require re-exportation, use for a different (and acceptable) purpose, recycling or destruction. According to Tien, contaminated products with a percentage of melamine below 2.5 parts per million could be used as animal feed, while products above that level would be destroyed. Vietnamese Drug Market -------------- ¶10. (SBU) According to Dr. Truong Quoc Cuong, the Director General of the Drug Administration of Vietnam, the Vietnamese drug market is valued at about 1.4 billion, with domestic production making up about half the total. Both Vietnamese companies and joint ventures operate in Vietnam and Cuong welcomed U.S. companies to enter the market. Vietnam's medical product exports total about USD 27 million annually. Vietnam exports medical products (mainly antibiotics, diabetes medication, contraceptive pills, and anti-malarial drugs) to Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America. Vietnam produces active pharmaceutical ingredients such as amoxycilin for the domestic market and exports to Africa. Vietnam imports a variety of drugs from countries such as Korea, China, India, Australia and France. Vietnamese Drug Safety Efforts -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Per Cuong, his office's top priority was to ensure a sufficient supply of good quality medicines. To do so, the Drug Administration applies a total quality management system recommended by the WHO for drug manufacturing. Cuong highlighted a steady reduction since 1990 in the amount of counterfeit drugs sold in Vietnam to 0.03 percent of all medications (an additional 0.3 percent were substandard) in 2007 (note: visits to local pharmacies and other retail drug centers indicate a substantially higher figure). API manufacturers operate under the same regulations as drug makers. It does not yet export to the United States. The GVN does not have the resources to check all domestic manufacturing plants or imports and focuses on the most easily counterfeited or most frequently substandard products, particularly those that may cause harm to consumers, whether injection, herbal, tablet or capsule. The GVN will also randomly sample drugs produced prior to importation, GVN officials try to check the manufacturing facilities and will continue to do so as necessary after imports commence. ¶12. (U) This cable was coordinated with Consulate General Ho Chi Minh City. MICHALAK