Tightening controls on smuggling and food safety during the 2025 Lunar New Year.

Over 18,000 slaughterhouses operate without licenses.

According to information from the Department of Animal Health ( Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ), animal diseases are basically under control, but some dangerous diseases are showing an increase compared to 2023.

Industrial poultry slaughtering line at Lan Vinh Joint Stock Company (Gia Lam district). Photo: Ngoc Anh

Regarding slaughtering practices, the country has 45 out of 440 industrial slaughterhouses, and most of these facilities are operating below their designed capacity. Meat prices are higher than the market average (approximately 20-30%), and among the 395 out of 440 centralized slaughterhouses, the majority do not have a hanging slaughtering system…

In addition, there are 18,102 slaughterhouses nationwide that are not authorized to operate by the authorities. The majority of these small-scale slaughterhouses operate spontaneously and have not received adequate attention. Some localities have reported instances of transporting, trading, and slaughtering diseased animals, as well as consuming products from diseased animals.

Addressing small-scale animal husbandry, slaughterhouses, and businesses dealing in animal products that do not meet veterinary hygiene and food safety standards presents many challenges. Some localities established centralized slaughterhouses before the implementation of QCVN 150:2017/BNNPTNT standards and the Planning Law, and are now facing obstacles such as: supplementing documentation to meet the eligibility requirements for recognition as centralized slaughterhouses; deteriorating infrastructure and equipment; incomplete centralized slaughterhouse networks; and inconsistent policies to encourage and support animal slaughtering, trading, and transportation activities.

Regarding the management of livestock and poultry slaughtering, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ta Van Tuong, stated that there are 718 slaughtering facilities and points throughout the city, but only 140 (19%) have been licensed by the authorities and are under the control of specialized veterinary agencies. These are large-scale slaughtering facilities, accounting for 60% of the city's consumption needs.

Notably, controlling slaughtering in Hanoi is challenging because the city borders eight provinces and cities, resulting in a large volume of animal and animal product transportation in and out of the city, making control difficult; the consumption of animal meat is very high, with Hanoi consuming an average of 800-1,000 tons of livestock and poultry meat daily.

Notably, some local authorities have not been decisive in managing and directing veterinary work, and have not paid attention to managing animal slaughtering activities, thus neglecting veterinary hygiene, disease control, and food safety. The number of animals slaughtered at operating centralized slaughterhouses remains low, averaging only about 40% of their designed capacity.

Tighten control over illegal slaughtering and transportation.

To control food safety during the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Snake 2025, experts and managers agree that it is necessary to strengthen propaganda and raise awareness about complying with and practicing good slaughtering, preliminary processing, and processing procedures, ensuring veterinary hygiene and food safety; at the same time, raising consumer awareness to avoid using animal products of unknown origin or those that do not meet veterinary hygiene and food safety standards.

Packaging of Vietnamese sausage and ham products at the closed-loop slaughterhouse of Hoang Long Cooperative (Thanh Oai district). Photo: Ngoc Anh

Regarding long-term solutions, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said: The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will continue to advise the Government to issue specific policies to call for and encourage organizations and individuals to invest in and build modern, hanging animal slaughter lines to meet consumer demand.

In addition, the Ministry issued policies to support and facilitate the transition to new occupations for the workforce after the cessation of small-scale slaughterhouse operations; directed provinces and cities to strengthen coordination and strictly manage and control quarantine and slaughter control to ensure disease safety and food safety, and regularly update and share information...

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized that, in order to ensure a supply of quality and safe food to meet consumer demand during the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Snake, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development continues to direct the veterinary sector to implement decisive measures to prevent the emergence, spread, and outbreak of diseases.

The Ministry also coordinates with local authorities to strictly control the slaughter of livestock and poultry; and to severely punish violations in accordance with the law.

For border localities and relevant agencies, it is necessary to strengthen the fight against the smuggling and transportation of livestock and poultry to prevent disease outbreaks and protect domestic livestock farming; promote the application of information technology and Industry 4.0 in animal quarantine, management and control of animal slaughter and animal products; build an information system for controlling slaughter, veterinary hygiene inspection and food safety by creating a database of livestock farms, animal slaughter facilities, and tracing the origin of livestock and poultry brought in for slaughter in the locality.

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