Vietnam: 03 principles of classification of harvested areas of bivalve mollusk

According to Circular No. 33/2015/TT-BNNPTNT of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, principles of classification of harvested areas of bivalve mollusk include:

1. Harvested areas shall be classified on the basis of the result of E.coli monitoring as prescribed in Appendix XIV enclosed herewith.

2. For harvested areas with multiple spots for taking representative samples of the same species of bivalve mollusk, Inspection Agencies shall assess result of monitoring at each spot and classify harvested areas on the basis of highest level of E.coli pollution.

3. For harvested areas with multiple species of bivalve mollusk, Inspection Agencies shall decide classification of harvested areas on the basis of highest level of E.coli pollution of species of highest infection rate or classify specific species of bivalve mollusks in harvested areas.

Besides, Circular No. 33/2015/TT-BNNPTNT also stipulates the classification of harvested areas of bivalve mollusk as follows:

Preliminary classification of new harvested areas:

- Preliminary classification is applied to new harvested areas when requirements as prescribed in Appendix XIV enclosed herewith are satisfied.

- Technical requirements for preliminary classification of harvested areas are prescribed in Appendix XIV enclosed herewith.

- Bivalve mollusks in these harvested areas shall be harvested for consumption in the market after appropriate result of classification is available.

Initial classification of harvested areas:

- Initial classification is applied to new harvested areas after preliminary classification is made but does not meet requirements as prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article.

- Technical requirements for initial classification of harvested areas are prescribed in Appendix XIV enclosed herewith.

Full classification of harvested areas:

- Full classification is applied to harvested areas that have adopted the Monitoring Program from one year and over and have at least 24 test samples.

- Technical requirements for full classification of harvested areas are prescribed in Appendix XIV enclosed herewith.

Full classification of harvested areas: After classification of harvested areas is done, Inspection Agencies shall make the updates on their website.

View more details at Circular No. 33/2015/TT-BNNPTNT of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, effective from December 10, 2015.

Le Hai

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