Within two days, April 15th 2013 and April 16th 2013, the College of Aquaculture and Fisheries of Can Tho University (CTU) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) organized the workshop on Improving Market Access for aquaculture products and for small farmers and processors.The workshop was honored to welcome and receive the helpful speech and presentation of Professor Iddya Karunasagar, Senior Fisheries Industries Officer at the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department of FAO of the United Nations in Rome, Italy. 

 Also attending the workshop were aquatic farmers and representatives from companies, aqua-products processors and aqua feed manufacturers in the Mekong Delta and the quality-testing and certifying companies. Representing CTU Rectorate Board, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Phuong, Vice Rector, attended and provided the opening speech of the school workshop and expressed nice thanks and warm welcome to the values guests.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Phuong, Vice Rector of CTU provided opening remarks of the workshop and warm welcome to the valued guests

This workshop resulted from one of CTU’s great efforts with the desire to share information about aqua food export markets, contributing to support aqua farmers and companies with more information about the export markets in order to meet the stringent requirements of the international export market international, especially the potential markets but also facing many challenges such as Japan, the U.S. and EU. In fact, different export markets have different requirements and standards of quality of aqua products, in which the strong attention is put into the necessity to ensure food hygiene and safety, protect consumer health, having contribution to improve the competitiveness of the aquaculture products in general and exported products in particular. The ensuring the quality of aqua products require the continual implementation and it affects at all stages of the process of culturing, manufacturing and processing, including the processing of aquatic feed. Once these requirements are fully satisfied, the quality assurance of aquatic food will help increase the competitiveness of the aqua products, contributing to improve income, the living conditions and increase economic benefits of the farmers and companies.

At the workshop, Professor Iddya Karunasagar presented an overview of regulatory and non-regulatory requirements in international markets, results of case studies of good aquaculture practices to minimize use of veterinary drugs in aquaculture, applying aquaculture clean quality of GAP standards, the lessons of experience about the removal and precautions for exports in the international market, experience on management and control of antibiotic residues in aqua products, and the access to information of the fisheries processors. Thereby, the delegates fruitfully discussed with FAO experts to get more useful information.

The participants at the workshop