Domestic livestock farming is in trouble because of the flood of foreign meat into Vietnam.

The massive import of livestock and poultry meat into Vietnam has put the domestic livestock industry in danger. Are these imported meats safe?

Domestic livestock products are under competitive pressure from cheap imported meat. Photo: Vu Long

Is cheap imported meat flooding the market safe?

Answering the reporter's question about why the veterinary industry allows foreign meat to be "freely imported" into Vietnam to compete fiercely with similar products raised domestically, and why this import is not restricted, Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy - Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Health ( Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development - NNPTNT), said: Vietnam is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) so it must comply with international trade regulations, it cannot prohibit the import of this product, or restrict the import of that product if those items do not violate our country's regulations and international regulations.

However, inspection and quarantine measures are still implemented. Products imported into Vietnam must follow a 5-step process for assessment and negotiation; each product must take at least 4-5 years to be considered for import into Vietnam and must comply with a very strict process. Before allowing the import of products, the Department of Animal Health must appraise disease records and monitor the entire food safety assurance process in the importing country before allowing the import.

Many domestic livestock farmers have quit their jobs due to losses caused by having to compete with imported meat prices. Photo: Vu Long

Answering the question of whether imported livestock and poultry meat products, especially by-products (organs, tails, legs, skin, etc.) sold at "cheap" prices in Vietnam on social networking sites and supermarkets are safe, of guaranteed quality, and contain any residues of banned substances, Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy affirmed: "Currently, the inspection rate of imported shipments is 5%. In the past 2 years, veterinary agencies have not discovered any cases of residues in food that require warnings."

Regarding cheap chicken meat (rejected chicken) imported into Vietnam, Ms. Thuy also said that poultry products in Vietnam, specifically egg-laying chickens, after a period of exploitation, are still used as food for consumers. Therefore, when negotiating, we cannot say that this type of rejected chicken cannot be imported into Vietnam.

Livestock industry in trouble because of "foreign meat"

Talking to Lao Dong reporter, Mr. Duong Tat Thang - Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development - NNPTNT), emphasized: The openness of the market livestock The lack of technical barriers to regulate imports is one of the reasons that makes the difficulties of the livestock industry even more complicated.

By participating in 17 Free Trade Agreements with countries, regions and territories (including 2 new generation agreements such as CPTPP and EVFTA), many countries with strengths in livestock farming such as the US, Brazil, Australia, etc. have increased exports to Vietnam. Although the import rate in 2022 and early 2023 is not too large, the total import volume has caused the selling price of domestic pork and poultry products to decrease sharply.

This has made people's livelihoods livestock affected: Input costs increased, production costs skyrocketed while the selling price of livestock products remained low for a long time, leading to losses for livestock and poultry farmers, not only at household level but also at farms (due to lack of connection, not closed chain depending on both input and output). While the conversion of occupations and economic structure in rural areas was slow, small farmers gradually lost their livelihoods.

"Along with that, dangerous infectious diseases are developing quite complicatedly, causing fluctuations in the total herd and economic losses for farmers. Farm owners are in debt and at risk of bankruptcy, making it very difficult to restore production," Mr. Thang informed.

“Thailand is a highly protected market, with the government allowing only certain types of poultry meat to be imported. The Thai government effectively bans US chicken products through import licensing controls. In addition, high import tariffs (30% for uncooked or chilled meat and 40% for cooked chicken) and discriminatory import licensing fees for uncooked products (7 baht/kg or about $189/ton) have helped protect the domestic market from imports.”

(Mr. Duong Tat Thang - Director of Department of Livestock - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development)

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