Vietnam’s tra fish exports to Spain see no sign of recovery following inaccurate news broadcast by Spanish media early this year, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Producers and Exporters has said.
The export of tra (catfish) is still facing difficulties although exports for January-September hit 1.3 billion USD, up 5.8 percent over the same period last year.
Vietnam’s aquaculture, fishery industry and seafood are on display at the seventh International Exhibition of Fishing and Aquaculture (SIPA 2017) which is underway in Oran, Algeria from November 9-12.
Vietnam recorded over 2.6 million tonnes of aquatic products in the first nine months of 2017, a year-on-year rise of 5.2 percent, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Vietnam will not see high year-end growth in exports of tra fish and shrimp to US by this year because trade barriers have reduced their value, according to the national seafood association.
Domestic price of tra fish (pangasius) is rising due to increasing demand for exports at year’s end while supply source is limited, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Aquatic exports in September 2017 are estimated to reach 696 million USD, pushing total exports of the products in the first nine months of this year to 5.91 billion USD, up 18.1 percent from the same period last year.
Many Vietnamese exporters are seeking new markets for tra fish as they face high tariffs in the United States, long one of the biggest consumers of Vietnamese tra fish.
The US Department of Commerce has imposed anti-dumping duty of 2.39 USD per kilogramme on frozen tra fish fillets which were imported from Vietnam between August 1, 2015 and July 31, 2016.
Despite a new US requirement that foreign exporters demonstrate their food safety control system is equivalent to American regulations, no backlog has been recorded in Vietnam's tra fish exports to US
The Mekong Delta province of An Giang earned 506.3 million USD in the past eight months, up 6.5 percent year on year, fulfilling 61.7 percent of the yearly plan, reported the provincial Department of Industry and Trade.
A stronger marketing strategy coupled with substantial improvement in tra fish quality is needed to bolster the export of the fish as rough seas are still ahead for this product, experts said.
Vietnam’s tra fish exports to the United States have remained stable after it imposed a demand that exporting countries demonstrate their food safety control system is equivalent to that of the US.
A Vietnamese aquatic products and Tra fish festival will run October 6-8 at the Vietnam Trade Promotion Centre for Agriculture on Hoang Quoc Viet Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi.
The Prime Minister has urged the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to monitor on the market situation when the US applies the Farm Bill in September 2017.
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