The US Department of Commerce has completed its seventh period of review and reached a final decision on reducing anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese tra fish filets, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

For the period under review between August 1, 2009, and February 15, 2010, the tax rate was reduced from 2.11 percent to zero percent for two companies, Thien Ma Import Export Ltd Co (Thimaco) and the Multinational Investment and Development Joint Stock Co (IDI).

For the sixth period of review, covering August 1, 2008, through July 31, 2009, the tax rate was slashed from 2.44-4.22 percent to zero percent for three companies: Vinh Hoan, Vinh Quang and CL-Fish. It was cut to 0.02 percent for Agifish, ESS LLC and South Vina.

Other companies would continue to be charged at a rate of 63.38 percent as per the fifth period of review.

VASEP attributed the revision in rates to the Department of Commerce (DOC) decision to shift the country it used for comparison from the Philippines to Bangladesh.

Last month, the price of tra fish fell by 3,000-5,000 VND/kg despite rising production costs, according to the association. After rising to 29,000 VND/kg in April, wholesale prices were now as low as 24,000 VND/kg, causing sizeable losses to breeders, said VASEP.

To keep prices from falling further and protect the interests of breeders, tra exporters had agreed to maintain floor prices in the second half of the year, said the head of VASEP's Freshwater Fish Committee, Duong Ngoc Minh.

The move followed a June 20 meeting among the 25 leading exporters and the fish breeding associations of An Giang and Dong Thap provinces in which they had agreed to buy fish weighing up to 850g at a price of at least VND26,000/kg, he said.

Vietnam expected to export 300,000 tonnes of tra fish for the first half of this year, earning 800 million USD, VASEP said. Exports were expected to increase an estimated 4.7 percent in volume and 24.7 percent in value./.