Vietnamese instant noodle products imported into the European Union (EU) market from June 27 will no longer need to have food safety inspection certificates issued by Vietnam’s authorized agencies, according to an amendment to an EU regulation.  

On June 7, the EU announced an amendment to its Regulation 2019/1973 regarding emergency measures for controlling food exports to the EU, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

Accordingly, the grouping has officially moved Vietnam’s instant noodles from Annex II, which requires a health certificate and a 20-percent inspection rate at EU border gates, to Annex 1, which only requires the same inspection rate at border gates.

As per the amendment, Vietnamese instant noodles imported into the EU from June 27 will no longer be required to have a certificate issued by an authorized Vietnamese agency.

This decision is a recognition by the EU of the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade’s efforts in improving food safety control as well as addressing difficulties facing exporters. 

This relaxation was issued about 18 months after the EU put Vietnamese instant noodles, along with vermicelli and rice products, under urgent control in January 2022 in accordance with Regulation 2019/1793 in order to control ethylene oxide (EO) residues.

Accordingly, a certificate issued by a Vietnamese agency was required for these commodities to be imported into the bloc. 

However, only six months later, the EU removed Vietnam’s vermicelli and rice products from the control list under the aforementioned regulation.

That the EU still maintains a 20-percent inspection rate at EU border gates requires Vietnam to constantly improve food safety control over instant noodles, according to Tran Ngoc Quan, Vietnam trade counselor in Belgium and the EU.

If in the last six months of 2023, Vietnam’s instant noodles exported to the EU are found violating food safety regulations, the bloc will raise the inspection rate for this commodity to 50 percent at border gates and may later bring it back to Annex II, Quan warned. 

With an aim to improve the quality of Vietnam’s exports to the large EU market, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has directed exporters to strengthen control over their production lines and strictly abide by relevant food safety regulations.

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