Japan inspects all shrimp from Vietnam containing excess pesticide

Japanese authorities have announced that they will inspect all shrimp imported from Vietnam after discovering excess levels of trifluralin, a pesticide, in three batches of frozen shrimps.

If Japan continues to find batches that contain the pesticide, it is likely that it will ban all future imports of Vietnamese shrimps.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has included trifluralin on the list of chemicals and antibiotics which are banned from use in aquaculture production and business. The MARD also controlled the purchase and use of these chemicals.

Chu Tien Vinh, deputy head of the general department of seafood under the MARD said inspection teams have been sent to shrimp breeding areas in the provinces to seize the chemical and work on eliminating it in the future. The department has also called on scientists to look for other chemicals to clean breeding areas instead of using trifluralin.

Japan is now the biggest importer of Vietnamese shrimp. In the first nine months of the year, Vietnam’s shrimp exports to the Japanese market reached more than US$400 million, making up nearly 30 percent of the country’s shrimp export volume.