Illegally imported Kobe beef will be destroyed

Binh, who is the director of the Animal Health Agency Zone VI under the department, said that since Kobe beef imports from Japan have yet to be officially approved, he was not sure where the Kobe beef that many food services in Vietnam claim to use in their dishes originates from.

“I wonder if it is real Kobe beef,” Binh said.

“If what is being served in the Kobe beef pho (Vietnamese beef noodle) or Kobe beefsteak in Vietnam is authentic, then smuggling is the only way the luxurious meat could have entered the country.”

Binh added that the animal health agency has previously destroyed batches of Kobe beef imported from Japan following detection by customs authorities.

Currently, Vietnam has only approved beef imports from countries such as the US and Australia.

Meanwhile, Hoang Van Nam, head of the Department of Animal Health, said that Japanese animal health authorities have recently shown his department legal documents concerning Kobe beef imports that have allegedly been approved by their Vietnamese counterparts.

“In reality, these are fake documents, since the Department of Animal Health has yet to licence any agencies or businesses to conduct quarantines on beef imported from Japan to Vietnam,” he was quoted by newswire VnExpress as saying.

“The Japanese authorities have agreed on exporting Kobe beef to Vietnam thanks to such contraband papers.”

Thus, Nam urged authorities to clarify the origins of the fake papers, as well as to detect whether the imported beef is real Kobe beef, and whether the beef can meet all food safety and hygiene standards.

“Since Kobe beef has yet to be officially imported, many food services have faked the papers to have the meat for their dishes,” he said.

“If Vietnamese consumers are really demanding Kobe beef, we will seek agreements with Japanese authorities to officially import the meat in the near future,” Binh promised.

Costly Kobe beef dishes

Since Kobe beef comes from cows raised in a very special manner, the meat can cost as much as $500 a kilogramme, and thus dishes made from it have steep prices.

The cows are only fed gourmet foods like immature corn and buckwheat. They drink beer instead of water, listen to Mozart and Chopin, and are massaged daily with sake.

At some restaurants in Hanoi, a bowl of pho made with Kobe beef costs VND850,000 ($40), but remains a best-seller despite the very high price.

Other restaurants also offer beefsteak made from Kobe beef, at the eye-watering price of VND1.9 million ($91.2) a dish.

A normal bowl of pho and a serving of beefsteak usually cost around VND30,000-50,000 ($2.4) in Vietnam.

In the latest development, Nguyen Dac Loc, deputy head of the Hanoi Market Management Agency told VnExpress that all Kobe beef offered by food services in Hanoi had been illegally imported.

Loc said the conclusion was drawn from inspections conducted by his unit into restaurants that offer dishes made from Kobe beef in the capital last week.

“All of the restaurants failed to show out valid receipts and invoices for the luxurious meat,” Loc was quoted by the newswire as saying.

“Under the current regulations, the beef should be destroyed.”

Loc added that the municipal market management authorities had also banned the restaurants from advertising and quoting prices of Kobe beef in their services.

“Customers who find any restaurant posting advertisements or quoting prices of Kobe beef are highly advised to report to the market management authorities,” he said.