Extremely cheap imported meat is flooding the Vietnamese market.

According to data from the General Department of Customs, in the first two months of 2018, Vietnamese people spent over $8.88 million importing beef from the United States, and also spent approximately $6.62 million importing similar products from Australia.

Overall, across the two largest beef suppliers to Vietnam, Vietnamese consumers have spent over $15.5 million (equivalent to over 280 billion VND) on imported meat in the past two months.

Prior to that, throughout 2017, Vietnam imported beef from these two origins worth $56.22 million and $31.49 million respectively.

American beef brisket is a favorite dish among many Vietnamese people today.

In terms of cuts, American beef is usually frozen, imported to Vietnam, and sliced ​​into smaller pieces for sale in supermarkets and specialty restaurants. Common cuts of American beef include shank, tenderloin, brisket, short ribs, chuck, and shoulder. Meanwhile, beef imported from Australia is usually fresh or frozen whole cuts, with the most common cuts being shank, shoulder, and thigh.

Imported beef is flooding the market, dominating supermarkets, stores, and online marketplaces, especially beef brisket advertised as imported from the US. This type of meat sells for only 150,000-250,000 VND/kg depending on the cut, significantly cheaper than Vietnamese beef.

Information about imported beef from the US and Australia being half the price of fresh domestic beef has sparked public skepticism, with many suggesting that this is beef nearing its expiration date, hence the low price.

Imported beef is widely advertised and sold on online marketplaces.

Besides beef, extremely cheap American chicken thighs are also widely available on the Vietnamese market, priced at only 10,000 – 20,000 VND/kg. According to data from the General Department of Customs, from the beginning of 2017 to March 15th, Vietnam imported 22,500 tons of various types of chicken meat, worth 19.8 million USD. Thus, the average price of imported chicken meat is only about 0.88 USD/kg (equivalent to 20,000 VND/kg). The imported chicken meat mainly originates from the United States, Brazil, and South Korea.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Trong, Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), the reason imported chicken thighs are cheap is because the US and some other countries only consume chicken breasts, which are the most expensive part. Meanwhile, consumers in these countries eat less of other products like necks, wings, feet, thighs, and giblets. Therefore, they sell these products at lower prices to Asian countries, including Vietnam.

Super cheap American chicken thighs have appeared on the Vietnamese market.

However, Mr. Trong also stated that with the unusually low price of chicken meat, even below 10,000 VND/kg, it cannot be ruled out that businesses are importing chicken meat that is nearing its expiration date.

At a recent press conference of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Dam Xuan Thanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Health, affirmed that all livestock and poultry food products, including beef imported into Vietnam, are strictly controlled.

Mr. Thanh stated that foreign factories and slaughterhouses wishing to export products to Vietnam must submit documentation to Vietnamese authorities for assessment and approval. Products entering Vietnam must meet food safety requirements before being granted permission.

At the same time, 100% of frozen goods imported through border gates will not be subject to post-inspection but will instead be sampled for chemical, microbiological, labeling, production date, and expiration date testing. If violations of safety and disease control regulations are detected during sample testing, fines will be imposed, and the goods will be required to be re-exported or destroyed.

The extremely low prices of imported meat have raised concerns about quality and food safety.

With meat prices constantly falling in the market, it will be difficult to keep up without support from the authorities, Ms. Hanh expressed her concern.

According to recommendations from EuroCham experts in the 2018 White Paper, to further improve quality and address food safety issues, Vietnam needs to strengthen traceability solutions.

Current regulations need to be reviewed and a high-value agricultural and food production and supply chain needs to be created. This includes building opportunities to access new markets, minimizing antibiotic use, and reducing the industry's dependence on imported raw materials, the 2018 White Paper states.

Tran Ngoc