Vietnam has
requested World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) members in a number of European
countries remove its tra (Pangasius) fish from the red list of the guidance
manual for seacooking consumers in 2010-2011, said a spokesperson for Vietnam’s
Foreign Ministry.

Spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga.

Spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga made the request at
a press briefing in Hanoi on December 9 while answering reporters’ question on
WWF members in a number of European countries putting Vietnam’s tra fish
products in the red list of the consumer guidance manual in 2010-2011.

“It is a regret that members of WWF in several
European countries have made assessments that are inaccurate, lack scientific
foundations and are at odds with the realities of Vietnam’s tra fish,” said the
Vietnamese spokeswoman.

This activity will cause great losses to
Vietnamese fish farmers and seafood processors as well as European consumers and
not benefit the ongoing fine development of the economics and trade relationship
between Vietnam and European nations, she said.

She went on to say that Vietnam has over the past
years strictly controlled seafood processing industry from planning and breeding
to processing and widely applied the highest international standards for
aquaculture, ensured food hygienic safety and protected ecological environment
on par with international standards.

“We demand that WWF members in these countries
remove Vietnam’s tra fish from the red list of the guidance manual for seafood
consumers in 2010-2011 and make public criteria and unbiased recommendations on
Vietnam’s tra fish production and export situation. Vietnam is willing to
welcome and create every condition for WWF experts to make a fact-finding tour
of Vietnam’s fish farms and seafood processing establishments so as to make
correct assessments of Vietnam’s seafood processing industry,” the spokeswoman
concluded.

VNN/VOV/VNA