Vietnam: Requirements for harvesting aquatic animals in an outbreak area

According to Article 16 of Circular No. 04/2016/TT-BNNPTNT of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, owners of establishments raising and harvesting aquatic animals in an outbreak must comply with the following requirements:

- Notify the Veterinary Station about the purpose of use, quantity, measures for handling, implementation plan, and measures for monitoring the use of diseased aquatic animals.

- Do not use diseased aquatic animals as breeding stock or as raw feed for other aquatic animals.

- Only transport aquatic animals to collection, purchase, sale, processing facilities (referred to as receiving facilities), and ensure that disease transmission does not occur during transportation.

Upon receiving the notification from the farm owner, the Veterinary Station has the following responsibilities:

- Assigning officers to guide and supervise the harvesting, preservation, and transportation activities of the farm with diseased aquatic animals.

- Informing the name and address of the receiving facility to the provincial authority responsible for managing the quality of agricultural and aquatic products, for monitoring at the receiving facility.

- Reporting the results of the implementation to the Provincial Department of Veterinary Medicine.

Note: The receiving facility must ensure and take responsibility for disease safety during the processing and manufacturing processes.

Besides, Circular No. 04/2016/TT-BNNPTNT also stipulates the handling of aquatic animal diseases as follows:

- Implement the provisions of Article 33 of the Veterinary Law 2015 of Vietnam; apply technical measures for the prevention and control of certain dangerous aquatic animal diseases (Appendices II, III, IV, and V issued with this Circular).

- The farm owner shall handle diseased aquatic animals in one of the following forms:

+ Harvesting diseased aquatic animals for those that have reached marketable size and can be used as food, feed, or other purposes.

+ Treating diseased aquatic animals for those that can be treated as determined by the specialized veterinary and aquaculture authorities, and if the farm owner desires treatment for the diseased aquatic animals.

+ Destroying diseased aquatic animals for those that do not fall under the above-mentioned provisions.

View more details at Circular No. 04/2016/TT-BNNPTNT of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, effective from July 01, 2016.

Ty Na

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