Just in the first half of May, 53 new SPS notifications were issued, with many regulations directly impacting Vietnamese agricultural products, food, and seafood.

According to Notification No. 346/TB-SPS-BNNMT dated May 15, 2026, from the Vietnam SPS Office, from May 1 to 15, 2026 alone, WTO members issued a total of 53 new notifications related to food safety and animal and plant quarantine (SPS), including 43 drafts for comment and 10 official regulations taking effect.

This update includes numerous contents that directly affect the agricultural, food, and seafood export activities of Vietnamese enterprises, especially in major markets such as China, Japan, the EU, India, and New Zealand.

China aggressively tightens food safety standards

In this SPS update, China accounted for 29 out of 43 new draft notifications, showing that the country is aggressively accelerating the standardization and raising of import food management criteria on a broad scale. This means Vietnamese enterprises exporting to China will have to update and upgrade their quality management systems continuously, rather than controlling them on a stage-by-stage basis as before.

One of the most notable contents is the draft National Standard on controlling polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination applicable to grains, meat, seafood, oils, fats, and milk. This is a group of compounds with carcinogenic risks, often arising during smoking, roasting, or frying at high temperatures, or from using inappropriate fuels.

Under the new draft, China requires enterprises to strictly control the fuels used during the smoking process; coal, diesel oil, rubber tires, or chemically treated waste wood are strictly prohibited. Concurrently, enterprises are encouraged to switch to indirect smoking or liquid smoking methods to reduce the risk of generating hazardous substances. The smoking temperature must be maintained below 400°C, the frying temperature must not exceed 180°C, and production areas must be located far from industrial parks or areas with high traffic density to limit pollution risks.

These requirements are evaluated to directly impact enterprises processing smoked seafood, roasted or fried foods, and processed foods exported to China. Enterprises in these sectors are advised to promptly review their production processes and the fuel sources used.

Beyond contamination control, China is also tightening regulations on food labeling for special dietary uses. According to the draft amendment to the GB13432-2013 standard, the actual content of nutritional components in the product, except for fat, sugar, and sodium, must not be lower than 80% of the value printed on the label. Meanwhile, fat, saturated fat, sugar, and sodium must not exceed 120% of the declared level.

This means enterprises cannot just monitor raw material inputs but must track finished product quality throughout its shelf life to ensure nutritional information always matches the packaging declaration.

For the dairy industry, China also drafted amendments to the standards for sterilized and pasteurized milk with more detailed technical requirements. Accordingly, sterilized cow's milk must have a minimum fat content of 3.2 g/100g and minimum protein of 2.9 g/100g; for sterilized goat's milk, the corresponding levels are 3.1 g and 2.8 g/100g. Additionally, China added a separate labeling requirement for products manufactured entirely from raw fresh milk.

Furthermore, China also raised standards for the seed and nut food group, such as cashews, lotus seeds, and pumpkin seeds. According to the new draft, the moldy nut rate in in-shell products must not exceed 2%, while for shelled products, the maximum level is reduced to just 0.5%. China simultaneously tightened peroxide indicators and microbial limits for pre-packaged ready-to-eat foods.

Experts state that enterprises exporting cashews, lotus seeds, and seed products to China need to promptly update their internal quality control systems to avoid risks when the regulations officially take effect.

Japan, EU continue to lower residue thresholds

Alongside China, Japan and the European Union continue to raise SPS barriers against imported agricultural products.

According to the Vietnam SPS Office, Japan is adjusting the maximum residue limits (MRLs) for many plant protection active substances such as chlorpyrifos, propamocarb, quinoclamine, spirodiclofen, and spiropidion across groups of vegetables, fruits, tea, grains, honey, and aquatic products.

Notably, Japan continues to apply an extremely low default limit of 0.01 ppm for active substances that do not have specific MRLs. This creates immense pressure on Vietnamese enterprises exporting fruits, tea, vegetables, and seafood.

According to warnings from SPS Vietnam, enterprises cannot merely reference international Codex standards but must specifically look up Japan's regulations for each active substance and each product.

Meanwhile, the EU is drafting amendments to Regulation (EC) 396/2005, most notably the tightening of the active substance carbofuran.

Under the draft, carbofuran will be brought down to the residue level of the limit of quantification (LOD), meaning virtually no residue is permitted in imported products.

Additionally, the EU is also reducing residue limits for several other active substances such as imazalil, mandipropamid, and quizalofop-P-ethyl on many types of fruits, vegetables, and herbal teas.

Enterprises exporting fruits and vegetables to the EU are advised to immediately review their pesticide application processes to avoid the risk of warnings or product rejections.

New opportunities for Vietnamese durian in India, mollusks in New Zealand

In a landscape of intense SPS pressures, some positive signals have still emerged for Vietnamese enterprises.

According to India's new SPS notification, the country is drafting amendments to plant quarantine regulations for imported plants, in which fresh durian from Vietnam will not require additional declarations on the Phytosanitary Certificate and will not be subject to special import conditions.

This is viewed as a positive signal for the Vietnamese durian industry, helping to reduce procedures and facilitate exports. However, the regulation is currently in the public comment phase until July 3, 2026, so enterprises need to continue monitoring before deploying large commercial plans with this market.

Meanwhile, New Zealand has just issued new food import regulations, effective from February 1, 2027, adding many food groups to the high-risk category. For instance, dried spices like pepper, chili, and paprika must undergo Salmonella testing at New Zealand-approved laboratories. The test results must ensure that Salmonella is not detected in a 25g sample. Besides, New Zealand also added new documentation and testing requirements for unpasteurized milk and dairy products. Several other food groups, such as seafood prone to histamine formation, pufferfish, and fermented meat, were also placed on the high-risk control list.

On a positive note, Vietnam continues to be recognized by New Zealand under the pre-inspection mechanism for the bivalve mollusk group, including oysters, mussels, clams, and scallops. This is considered an important advantage for the Vietnamese seafood industry in this market.

However, to maintain this priority mechanism, Vietnamese products must meet strict hygiene and traceability requirements, including harvesting and processing according to standards equivalent to those of the EU, originating from facilities on the EU-approved list, and accepting additional testing on approximately 5% of export shipments.

Turkey and East Africa simultaneously raise import standards for coriander seeds and dried garlic

In another development, Turkey has enacted a new regulation, effective from July 1, 2026, requiring imported shipments of cumin seeds and coriander seeds to be accompanied by a Phytosanitary Certificate issued by the national plant protection authority.

According to the regulation, shipments without full quarantine documentation may be rejected or forced into destruction. This regulation has been officially applied, no longer in the draft stage. Therefore, enterprises exporting spices to Turkey are advised to work early with domestic phytosanitary authorities to complete documentation prior to export.

The East African Community is also drafting a new standard for dried garlic in the form of slices, flakes, granules, or powder. According to the draft, dried garlic products must meet specific requirements regarding moisture, ash content, aflatoxin, and volatile organic sulfur compounds.

Specifically, the maximum moisture content must not exceed 8%, total ash content must not exceed 5.5%, total aflatoxin must not exceed 10 μg/kg, and aflatoxin B1 must not exceed 5 μg/kg. Furthermore, the product must also ensure a minimum volatile organic sulfur compound content of 0.3%.

Although only in the draft stage, professionals believe this will be an important reference standard set for enterprises exporting garlic and processed spices to East African markets such as Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda in the coming period.

According to the Vietnam SPS Office, the most notable point of this SPS update is the trend where major markets do not just control the final product but tighten the entire production chain, from raw material areas and processing fuels to preservation technologies and traceability data.

This forces Vietnamese enterprises to shift their mindset from "reacting to individual shipments" to building systematic standard governance frameworks that are updated regularly according to each export market.

Source: Vnbusiness