HANOI, January 29. Russia has restricted Vietnamese import of tra fish (pangasius) and its by-products manufactured by a number of Vietnamese companies, Nguyen Nhu Tiep, head of the Vietnam National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department said Wednesday.

The list of facilities includes seven local companies, whose products are temporarily banned from importing to Russia from January 31 on as they do not comply with Russian sanitary norms.

The decision followed an inspection of local fish facilities last December, when Russian experts of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phitosanitary Surveillance checked eight fish processing facilities and two fish farms.

A total ban on all Vietnamese aquatic imports will follow, should Vietnam not eliminate the revealed violations during February.

Despite a number of difficulties, local exporters see Russia as an important market for aquatic products with prospects of growth, the local media report. A total of 35 Vietnamese facilities are certified to import seafood to Russia; eight of them had earlier faced temporary sanctions.

Vietnam is among the world’s top ten producers and exporters of aquatic products, where fish and seafood export has recently been one of the main sources of budget revenue.