Export Requirements
Vietnam’s current official list of foreign establishments eligible to export meat and meat products to Vietnam does not contain Tanzania. The Vietnamese Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health currently lists 31 exporting countries, including Brazil, Australia, India, the United States and several European countries. Tanzania is not among them. Trang Thông tin điện tử Cục Thú Y
Official Vietnamese list of approved foreign meat establishments
However, there is strong evidence that Tanzania has actually exported frozen bovine offal, including frozen salted omasum, to Vietnam.
Tanzania has exported omasum to Vietnam
World Bank WITS trade data records Tanzanian exports under HS 020629, frozen edible bovine offal, to Vietnam as follows.
- 88,020 kg.
- 68,790 kg.
- 66,250 kg. World Integrated Trade Solution
Even more specifically, commercial shipment data records Tanzanian consignments described as frozen salted omasum and cow tendon shipped to Vietnam. One shipment on 1 March 2024 was 26,500 kg. Another on 17 July 2024 was 24,500 kg. Volza
Therefore, your information that there has been Tanzania to Vietnam omasum trade is supported by actual trade data.
But that does not establish that a new Tanzanian establishment can currently export omasum under the normal establishment approval route.
There is a second important complication
Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment published an official statement in 2026 concerning Russian access for meat and meat byproducts.
The Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health stated that Vietnam had not granted any country permission to export white offal to Vietnam. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
This matters because bovine stomach products are generally treated commercially as white offal.
However, we have to be careful with the interpretation. The same market clearly received products declared as frozen salted beef omasum from Pakistan and Tanzania in earlier trade data. Volza
I would therefore not conclude from the Russian statement alone that omasum imports are presently prohibited. There may be a distinction between Vietnamese veterinary product classifications, processing status, existing approvals, tariff classifications and what the Vietnamese authority meant by white offal in that particular bilateral discussion.
That question needs to be resolved officially before you commit money to a Tanzanian plant.
What the Vietnamese approval system currently says
Vietnam’s current government administrative system confirms that terrestrial animal products require the foreign establishment approval procedure.
The official Vietnamese government portal currently specifies the following documentation.
Form 07. List of food production and trading establishments registering to export to Vietnam.
Form 08. Information about the exporting country’s food safety management system and the control capability of its competent authority.
Form 09. Information concerning the food safety conditions of the individual establishment. Defra
The government portal also has a specific procedure for adding establishments to the approved list. Defra
Therefore, the basic procedure we established earlier is correct.
But I would change the strategy for your Tanzania project
I would not start by asking a Tanzanian plant to complete Form 09.
The first step should now be obtaining written confirmation from the Vietnamese authority on one very specific question.
Essentially.
“Can a Tanzanian establishment currently be approved for the production and export to Vietnam of frozen dry salted bovine omasum, HS 020629.”
That question should specify exactly what you intend to sell.
Beef omasum.
Edible product for human consumption.
Cleaned.
Dry salted.
Frozen to minus 18 degrees Celsius.
HS 020629.
40 kg bags.
Exported in frozen reefer containers.
Origin Tanzania.
Destination Haiphong, Vietnam.
That description removes most of the potential ambiguity surrounding white offal.
If Vietnam confirms yes
Then the route becomes straightforward.
- Establish whether Tanzania already has Form 08 country system recognition applicable to this product.
- Establish whether Tanzania needs to submit a new Form 08.
- The Tanzanian veterinary competent authority submits Form 07 identifying the establishment.
- The establishment completes Form 09.
- Vietnam assesses the submission and determines whether documentary approval is sufficient or whether an inspection is required.
- The establishment is formally added to the relevant Vietnamese approved establishment list.
- The Vietnamese importer obtains the required import quarantine approval.
- Tanzania issues the agreed veterinary health certificate for each consignment.
- The consignment undergoes Vietnamese import veterinary controls.
Vietnam’s current quarantine procedure confirms that the exporter country must provide a quarantine certificate. The Vietnamese importer first registers the consignment for quarantine. Following approval, it makes the quarantine declaration at the border. Vietnam can inspect and sample the product before issuing the import quarantine certificate. Vietnam Trade Portal
What I would not tell a Tanzanian supplier yet
I would not currently tell them.
“Tanzania is approved for exporting omasum to Vietnam.”
I cannot substantiate that as the current 2026 regulatory position.
I can substantiate something slightly different and very useful.
“Tanzania has previously exported frozen edible bovine offal and specifically consignments described as frozen salted omasum to Vietnam.”
That is supported by the trade records. World Integrated Trade Solution
But Tanzania does not appear on Vietnam’s current public list of countries having establishments approved for meat and meat product exports. Trang Thông tin điện tử Cục Thú Y
That discrepancy needs to be resolved before proceeding.
Who I would contact
The relevant Vietnamese authority is now the Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. Its official site provides the contact email vanphongcuc@dah.gov.vn. Trang Thông tin điện tử Cục Thú Y
Vietnam Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health
I would send them a short formal enquiry asking for confirmation of the eligibility of Tanzania and frozen dry salted bovine omasum HS 020629.
I would send essentially the same enquiry through your Vietnamese importer. That is particularly useful because the importer can ask the Vietnamese quarantine authority which certificate and product approval presently applies.
The answer we need from Vietnam is not simply whether Tanzania is approved. It is whether a new Tanzanian establishment can currently obtain approval for frozen dry salted bovine omasum for human consumption under HS 020629.
That written confirmation should come before you spend time qualifying individual Tanzanian plants.