Pangasius industry looks for ways out of trap
The Vietnam Association of
Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has proposed that the State
establish a production quota for tra fish (pangasius) in order to avoid
an oversupply.
The country's seafood exports
reached 1.8 billion USD by the end of the third quarter, an increase of
12.5 percent over the same period last year, according to VASEP.
However, tra fish output in the first nine months of this year
declined 11 percent to 723,000 tonnes, according to the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
The trend
is expected to last beyond the end of this year, forcing almost all tra
fish export processing factories to temporarily halt production, said
Duong Ngoc Minh, VASEP deputy chairman.
The proposal
was one of several plans that the association submitted to the Prime
Minister for restructuring production and consumption of tra fish to
boost sustainable development.
VASEP suggested that
the MARD establish an annual quota for each province producing tra fish
and ensure that it was maintained.
The specific
quantity would be determined by the MARD, the VASEP and the Vietnam Tra
Fish Association as well as provincial People's Committees and
provincial seafood associations based on forecasts about exports and
domestic consumption from the VASEP and the Ministry of Industry and
Trade.
Then the Committees and associations would
establish quotas for individual farms. They would also control the
production process and quality of raw materials.
VASEP has also proposed a pilot mechanism for exporting Vietnamese tra
fish products to the EU. To limit unfair competition, the Zeebrgge Port
in Belgium would distribute them to 28 EU markets. VASEP would take care
of transport, logistics, auctions on electronic trading floor,
distribution and payment.-VNA