Workers at Vinh Hoan Corp process seafood for export (Photo: VNA) The turnover of Vietnamese tra fish exported to China hit 13.55 million USD,down 38.6 percent over the same period last year.
The figure accounted for 8.5 percent of Vietnam’s total outbound sales of thefish during the period. The export value to Hong Kong also fell by 40.5 percent.
VASEP’s market analysts attributed the unexpected decline to many difficulties,including the COVID-19 pandemic and measures used to slow the spread of thevirus.
Early last year, seafood processing factories in China were impacted by thepandemic, which caused interruptions in trade, affecting the export volume oftra fish to this market.
Early in the third quarter last year, trade between Vietnam and China increasedagain ahead of China's National Day in October. In October last year, the priceof frozen tra fish fillets exported to China suddenly surged to 2.52 USD perkg.
However, China then stepped up efforts at border gates to contain the spread ofthe coronavirus through imported frozen products, affecting Vietnam’s tra fishexports.
According to VASEP, since December last year, Guangxi Province which bordersfour provinces of Vietnam including Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Cao Bang, and Ha Gianghas conducted surveillance, disinfection and origin traceability measures tostrengthen control of all consignments of frozen seafood imports.
Frozen seafood shipments from Vietnam, including tra fish fillets, need acertificate of food testing, certificate of quarantine, certificate ofdisinfection and certificate origin traceability and a negative COVID-19 test.
Frozen seafood goods imported to Guangxi via border gates and seaports must besent to local centralised monitoring warehouses for a nucleic acid test,sterilisation and origin traceability control.
These extra requirement shave slowed exports.
Vietnam exports a diverse range of tra fish products to China including frozenfillets, frozen tra fish stomach, fried/dried fish bladder, frozen whole trafish and frozen tra fish belly, among others.
Last year, 145 seafood companies exported tra fish to the Chinese market and 40others shipped their tra fish to Hong Kong./.
VNA
