November 30, 2015 — It seems as though the Vietnamese government’s decision at the end of last year to delay implementation of the regulation to limit glazing and humidity (added water) levels on pangasius exports could hit sales to the EU hard.
In mid-November, a leading Dutch newspaper Telegraaf picked up on a television program shown in the Netherlands in which it was claimed that pangasius fillets imported from Vietnam on sale in Dutch supermarkets were found to contain up to 30 percent water.
Comments from 140 consumers who had purchased pangasius reacting to the article ranged from “nothing you would eat” to something that cannot be politely translated into English.
As reported in SeafoodSource on 6 January, pangasius exporters had objected to the regulation, Decree No. 36, which was due to come into force on 1 January, saying it would cost them business.
Decree 36 would have restricted glazing on frozen pangasius fillets, to no more than 10 percent and humidity to 83 percent of the product weight. As a result of their petition, the introduction of the regulation was postponed for a year.
While the exporters agreed that these restrictions would help to increase the quality and image of Vietnam’s pangasius abroad, they said they wanted more time to measure the impact on their customers. They were adding water to the fish in order to meet their customers’ requirements for prices below the then quoted USD 3.40 (EUR 3.18) per kilogram.
Read the full story at Seafood Source