Voluntary Quality System for the Sustainable Cold-Water Fish Food Chain

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

Cold-water fish aquaculture has become a source of livelihood in isolated areas of North Vietnam and in regions, where many ethnic minorities live. On the other hand, cold-water fish aquaculture has established a whole new segment of business in Vietnam. The existing quality systems for cold-water fish are poor. There are various problems, like the insecurity of cold chain, hygiene in handling and processing, food poisonings and growing pressure of low-cost products, for example imported sturgeon. The purpose of the project "Voluntary Quality System for the Sustainable Cold-Water Fish Food Chain" is to ensure the certified and documented quality of cold-water fish chain from a pond to plate. The overall objective is to support the sustainable development of cold-water aquaculture in Vietnam through better management and documentation by analyzing current processes, planning a sustainable quality chain, analyzing the pilot quality chain and implementing it by training and also evaluating the impacts to Vietnamese aquaculture. The Project is implemented by the Finnish Food Safety Authority (Evira) and Research Institute for Aquaculture (RIA-1) in Vietnam. Some activities are implemented with the Department of Animal Health (DAH) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). The Natural Resources Institute Finland participated in the activities as well. The project is implemented in 2019-2021 and the budget is 640 000 euros.