Hanoi (VNA) – 🍎Vietnamese businesses should adhere to changes in EU quality and food safety standards to ensure compliance, as regulations are continuously revised, particularly those concerning novel foods and composite products, according to insiders.

Addressing a conference on February 24, Ngo Xuan Nam, Deputy Director of the Vietnam SPS Office under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), said issues related to "novel foods" and "composite products" are causing confusion for businesses. Among the eight EU warnings on “novel foods” in the first two months of 2025, four involved Vietnamese exports, accounting for 50%, he noted. Under EU Regulation 2015/2283, “novel food” is defined as food that had not been consumed to a significant degree by humans in the EU before May 15, 1997. The regulation requires new products to undergo a thorough safety assessment before being introduced to the market, Nam said. In order the help businesses to meet the EU food safety standards, Nam underlined the importance of keeping them updated on food hygiene, safety, and disease control. He stressed that these regulations are crucial for maintaining market access to the EU.

Challenges in exporting “novel foods"

Since the beginning of 2025, the EU’s food and feed safety system has issued 16 warnings regarding Vietnamese food and agricultural exports, including cashew nuts, processed shrimp, beverages, dried basil seeds, and apple snail meat.

These products have been handled in the form of warnings, recalls or even destruction due to non-compliance with the EU’s strict regulations. One of the main reasons is that businesses have not registered products containing ingredients classified as ‘novel foods’ under EU regulations. Product ingredients have been mislabeled, leading to undetected allergens. Using illegal additives or exceeding the prescribed level is also a problem. In addition, some businesses violated the regulations on ‘composite products.’ They failed to undergo veterinary quarantine or declare animal-derived ingredients at customs checkpoints, violating the EU's biosafety regulations. Under a regulation issued by the EU, which came into force on December 15, 2022, composite products are foodstuffs containing both products of plant origin and processed products of animal origin. If any of the ingredients are of animal origin, they must come from establishments authorised to export such products to the EU. The export of agro-forestry-aquaculture products to the EU has seen stable growth in recent years. As a large market with over 450 million people, the EU has a high demand for agricultural products, particularly coffee, cashew nuts, pepper, tropical fruits, and seafood. However, this market imposes stringent and frequently changing standards on quality and food safety.

Constantly-changing regulations

Statistics from the Vietnam SPS Office indicate that the rising trend of green consumption, organic food, and certified products has brought great opportunities for Vietnamese agricultural exports. However, the EU maintains extremely high standards for quality and food safety. Products exported to the EU must adhere to both Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) regulations - covering food safety inspections, food additives and quarantine measures - and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), which includes strict limits on pesticide residues. According to Nam, it is necessary to take timely solutions for product groups that have received high-level warnings from the EU. Nam noted that, in 2024, Vietnam received 114 warnings from the EU, double the figure in 2023, primarily due to contamination risks, pesticide residues, and the presence of unapproved food additives. Many warnings were issued regarding novel foods not authorised by the EU. Statistics of the SPS Vietnam Office show that businesses making errors are often small- and medium-sized enterprises. To minimise violations, the office advises businesses exporting to the EU to study the relevant regulations thoroughly, stating that they should understand Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 on novel foods and the list of approved novel foods under Regulation (EU) 2018/1023./.