EU relaxes food safety regulation for Vietnamese instant noodles

Illustrative image (Photo: tuoitre.vn)

The EU on June 7 published an amendment to Regulation 2019/1973 regarding emergency measures for controlling food exports into the EU. Accordingly, the EU has officially moved Vietnam’s instant noodles from Annex II which requires a Health Certificate (HC) and 20% control at the border gate to Annex 1 which only requires 20% control of the products at EU border gates.

This decision is a recognition of the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s efforts in controlling food safety as well as supporting businesses in solving difficulties.

In January 2022, the EU put Vietnamese instant noodles products under the microscope subject to Regulation 2019/1793 in order to control ethylene oxide (EO) residues. Accordingly, any Vietnamese instant noodle products imported into the EU must have a Health Certificate (HC) issued by an authorised Vietnamese agency. Only six months later, the EU removed Vietnam’s vermicelli and rice products from the list of food safety management.

According to the Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Belgium and the EU Tran Ngoc Quan, the EU’s maintenance of the 20% control at border gates requires Vietnam to always keep food safety control for instant noodles.

To improve the quality of Vietnamese products imported into the EU and create conditions for the products to make inroads into this lucrative market, the MoIT has ordered export businesses to well control production supply chains, ensuring strict compliance with the food safety regulations of the union./.