Prepare carefully for seafood export

In 2021, seafood export is expected to reach US$8.7 billion and the figure towards 2030 is US$14-16 billion. In order to reach the target, the whole industry still has a lot of work to do, especially increasing seafood production to ensure quality and meet strict non-tariff requirements from import markets.

Increase production and prepare a source of good quality raw materials is an important factor to help seafood export achieve goals in the future. Photo: N. Thanh

Regarding the development of the fisheries sector, the Prime Minister recently issued Decision No. 339 / QD-TTg on approving the Vietnam Fisheries Development Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2045.

Notably, the specific goal set is to strive to 2030, the production value of aquatic products reaches 3 - 4% each year; the total output of aquatic products domestically produced reached 9.8 million tons; value of seafood export turnover reached US$14-16 billion.

From the perspective of enterprises, Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, Deputy Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said enterprises are very supportive of the tasks and proposals to achieve the goal of domestically produced seafood at 9.8 million tons.

Investing in infrastructure is important, including the process of disease prevention in fisheries. “If the budget is low, the Ministry and Department of Animal Health should propose to consider and adjust the balance. Currently, many agricultural groups are striving to become export commodity group. Meanwhile, seafood is already an export commodity group,” Mr. Nam said.

VASEP's Deputy Secretary-General emphasized the issue of meeting the increasing non-tariff requirements of the import market. When the integration increases, the tax is reduced, the non-tax barriers tend to increase. Currently, each year, the World Trade Organization (WTO) receives more than 3,000 requests from countries related to non-tax issues. On the basis of production, in addition to ensuring criteria for export, there is also another criterion which is the disease safety programs of each chain, each enterprise must replicate, with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

“By nature, we are trying to use the resources of the processing technology, the goods market, and the support of the FTAs. Production will be an important part of investment in the next 10 years. We are very concerned about the raw material areas. The quantity of raw materials is not enough but must have a good source of raw materials, the national competition and enterprises will be different. India currently has production, but raw materials are not evaluated well, so Vietnam benefits. The business community, including businesses that have invested in farming or have not yet invested in farming, the pandemic prevention will be a factor to ensure that we have a source of raw materials for offering or signing orders,” Mr. Nam said.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said the fishing industry of Vietnam has grown in recent years.

According to the research, the fishery resource was previously 4.36 million tons but is now rapidly declining. Therefore, the general orientation is to reduce the catch from 3.8 million tons to 2.8 million tons.

“In terms of farming, the geography of Vietnam is huge. Farming is not only in the inner fields, but we have space of 1 million km2 of sea, if we only cultivate 500,000 km2, the output will be very large. However, to develop aquaculture, it is necessary to pay attention to seeds, agricultural materials and aquatic infrastructure. Besides, it is necessary to improve the processing capacity and develop the market,” said Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien.

Leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said regarding the policy mechanism, we will consider the sea surface delivery, the credit and the market. All these issues need to be considered.

Currently, Vietnam is striving to achieve the 3rd position in the global seafood export. Although, last year, Vietnam exported US$8.6 billion to over 160 countries, but countries are also applying technical barriers for trade defense, so Vietnam must meet market requirements.

In addition, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien also mentioned the need to restructure seafood processing and exporting enterprises; link activities of these enterprises according to the cyclical, chain-based economic model and value enhancement.

“In terms of capacity building to prevent and control of diseases on aquatic products, in recent years, we still have returned shipments due to not tightly controlling the farming environment, or antibiotic residues problem. Therefore, these issues need to be solved to achieve an export value of US$14-16 billion,” said Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien.