Melamine-contaminated fish meal found in Can Tho

03:58' 07/12/2008 (GMT+7)

Melamine found in Chinese fish meal imported by Can Tho Agricultural and Animal Product Import Export Company. VietNamNet Bridge - Ho Chi Minh City fishery authorities discovered high levels of industrial chemical melamine in 120 tons of fish meal imported from China by a Mekong Delta import company. HCMC Sub-Department of Quality Management and Fisheries Resource Protection told a conference in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho yesterday the contaminated fish meal imported by Can Tho Agricultural and Animal Product Import Export Company had been issued a certificate of quality by Chinese authorities. The fish meal was found to contain 0.63 – 0.86 percent melamine, a chemical used to make plastic. In China, melamine-contaminated milk has caused the death of six infants and sickened 294,000 children. Can Tho Agricultural and Animal Product Import Export Company used the imported fish meal to produce 1,249,600 products that were sold to 11 agencies and catfish breeders in Vinh Long and Dong Thap provinces and Can Tho city. Authorities have asked agricultural businesses in the Mekong Delta to monitor their products carefully. Any enterprise found breaking the law will receive strict treatment, Agriculture and Rural Development Deputy Minister Luong Le Phuong told the conference organized by the National Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Quality Administrative Directorate of Viet Nam (Nafiqad). The conference was held to review the results of inspections of seafood enterprises in Vietnam’s southern region and discuss ways to improve state management of the seafood industry. Nafiqad said two of 18 seafood enterprises inspected were not providing estimates of their impact on the environment. Other firms did not have standards for materials or were not following proper equipment maintenance procedures.