Vietnam has imported more than US$15 million worth of frozen chicken from South Korea in the year to October, a press briefing stated Thursday. The meeting was organized by the Dung Thanh Dat Co Ltd, a South Korean frozen chicken major importer, to announce the quality of its imports, following recent news reports that the poultry meat fails to meet nutrition and food safety standards. “We have taken samples of the meat for tests, and results show that the Korean frozen chicken is completely in accordance with Vietnamese standards,” company director Do Thi Hong Nhi told reporters. The Animal Health Agency also said that all of the chicken import batches from South Korea have so far this year passed requirements for customs clearance. A spokesperson of the meat producer and exporter, Korea-based Sing Green, also emphasized the standard conformity of their products. While the products are labeled by local media as “waste chicken,” or old hens that no longer produce eggs, the Korean side said the meat should only be referred to as “old chicken”, Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper reported. Some 70 percent of old chicken in South Korea is domestically consumed, and only 30 percent is exported to Japan, Hong Kong, and Vietnam, according to the Korean Animal Health Association. The old hens have previously been widely sold in nationwide supermarkets, and even enjoy strong consumption from locals, especially students and low-income earners. The chickens, normally weighing 1.2 to 1.5 kilograms, are available at VND47,000 (roughly US$2.5) a kg, only half of the rate of the domestic chickens. In addition to this, the tough meat and delicious smell helps them win over customers. Some news coverage has reported that the meat contains excessive amounts of antibiotic residues. But the products all bear adequate labels and obtain full certificates for safety and hygiene quality, and authorities say they are safe to consumers.