Director of An Giang province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) Nguyen Sy Lam has suggested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) collaborate with relevant agencies to accelerate the building of a trademark for tra fish (catfish) in the Mekong Delta.
The Cambodian Ministry of Commerce on February 5 issued a feedback document about the country’s recent suspension of catfish imports from several neighbouring countries, including Vietnam, reaffirming Cambodia’s commitment to complying with and supporting the spirit of trade liberalisation.
Team Catfish from Vietnam won the first prize at the ASEAN Data Science Explorers (ASEAN DSE) 2020 competition, which was jointly hosted by the ASEAN Foundation and its partner SAP.
The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has lowered anti-dumping duties on tra fish (pangasius) products from Vietnam following its official conclusion of its 15th period of review (POR15) from August 1, 2017 to July 31, 2018, according to the Trade Remedies Authorities of Vietnam under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoIT).
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) under the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recognised Vietnam as a country eligible to export Siluriformes fish (catfish, including tra fish) and fish products to the US.
Vietnam’s seafood exports increased slightly in July but the country is forecast to continue facing challenges, experts told a conference held by the Vietnam Association for Seafood Exporters and Producers in Ho Chi Minh City on August 28.
Vietnamese tra fish exporters are confident that their business will continue to thrive in the coming time despite facing anti-dumping duties and expansion of farming areas in many rival countries.
For the shark catfish sector in the Mekong Delta region to develop sustainably, authorities need to regulate output and quality and the use of chemicals more stringently and prevent unauthorised farming, said Le Hoang Vu, head of Dong Thap province’s Sub-department of Fisheries.
Dong Thap province, the Mekong Delta’s largest tra fish producer, has more than 2,200ha of aquaculture farms breeding the fish and they have produced about 438,000 tonnes so far this year, equivalent to almost the full-year target.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) under the US Department of Agriculture recently proposed that Vietnam would be eligible to export catfish and other fish products to the US market, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
The US Department of Commerce (DOC) reduced anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese tra and basa (pangasius) fish under its preliminary conclusion of the 14th period of review (POR14) for the period from August 1, 2016 to July 31, 2017.
The Mekong Delta is Vietnam’s seafood production and export hub but the region still faces many challenges, such as disease outbreaks and difficulties in meeting market requirements for food origin.
Shark catfish farming has grown rapidly in southern An Giang province due to the authorities’ efforts to introduce sophisticated farming techniques and new technologies.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is working hard with a view to early recognizing Vietnam’s regulatory system on catfish management to be equivalent to that of the US, said first Deputy Secretary of USDA Stephen Censky.
Catfish is one of Vietnam’s major seafood exports with a turnover of 1.8 billion USD, and its skin, a waste product, is also being exported starting recently.
Wholesale supermarket MM Mega Market Vietnam has exported more than 100 tonnes of Vietnamese agricultural products to Thailand for selling through 700 Big C malls, where the two retailers share a parent.
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