The Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance said it would tighten inspections along northern border provinces to prevent the import of banned red-claw crawfish into Vietnam. (Photo: cafef.vn)Hanoi (VNA) - The Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance said itwould tighten inspections along northern border provinces to prevent theimport of banned red-claw crawfish into Vietnam.
In an urgent message, head of thedirectorate Tran Huu Linh instructed officials in Lang Son, Lao Cai, CaoBang and Quang Ninh to enhance supervision on the trade and consumption of crawfish.
The red-claw crawfish is not on the list ofaquatic species eligible for trade in Vietnam.
He asked authorities to collaborate withlocal customs and border forces to scan key transport routes to preventimports of the species.
The directorate would also inspect supermarkets,seafood stores, restaurants and hotels that served crawfish in big cities suchas Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Hai Phong. Violators would be fined,Linh said.
It would cooperate with police and inspectorsfrom the departments of aquaculture, agriculture and rural development,and the management boards of local markets to stop the trade.
Earlier, officers at the Lao Cai International BorderGate found and seized 75kg of red-claw crawfish hidden in toy boxes on May19.
On May 11, 300kg of crawfish were stoppedin Lao Cai province’s Ban Lau commune.
Red-craw crawfish is considered an invasivealien species. It could harm the country’s bio-diversity andagricultural production as it can eat both live and dead animals andplants.
Crawfish can also easily carry and spreaddisease to shrimp, and can burrow in and destroy dykes.
Crawfish is sold for between 200,000-300,000VND (8.3-12.5 USD) per kilo. It is mainly imported from China and the US.-VNA
VNA
