Urgent Compliance with EU Food Safety Regulations

The Vietnamese government is urging agricultural exporters to comply with EU food safety regulations to avoid losing the billion-dollar export market. Numerous warnings have been issued due to violations such as unregistered novel food ingredients, misdeclaration of ingredients, unauthorized additives, and lack of proper veterinary quarantine. The EU's stringent regulations on food safety require Vietnamese businesses to adapt. Two key areas of concern are "novel food," defined as any food not significantly consumed in the EU before May 15, 1997, and "composite products" containing animal-origin ingredients, which must be sourced from EU-authorized facilities. These regulations, recently updated in late 2022, impact even traditional Vietnamese food products. While the EU recently abandoned the pesticide reduction plan, potentially easing pressure on Vietnamese exporters, Maximum Residue Levels for plant protection products might still pose challenges. Small and medium-sized enterprises are particularly vulnerable to non-compliance due to limited resources for adapting to changing regulations. Collaboration between authorities and businesses is crucial for successful compliance.