Seafood exporters still face hurdles in remaining months

Vietnamese seafood businesses will continue facing obstacles in the remainder of the year, including input material quantity and quality and barriers from import markets.

General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) Truong Dinh Hoe made the remarks at a conference on August 28 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Total Vietnamese seafood export in the seven-month period amounted to US$4.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 17.3%.

Given the surge, VASEP forecasts that total seafood shipments are likely to hit US$8 billion  for the whole year, up 14 % from last year’s figure, thanks to key exports like shrimp, tra fish, tuna, cuttlefish and octopus.

However, experts said that major challenges, such as high anti-dumping duties and the US inspection programme, require domestic exporters to devise appropriate export plans, especially the adaptation to the market fluctuations.

At the conference, VASEP proposed solutions for overcoming trade barriers and building trade mark for Vietnamese tra fish, promoting international cooperation and the domestic sale channel as well as developing added value goods.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam said that the ministry is making every effort to carry out the Government’s programme to build national trade mark for shrimp and tra fish.

Participants underlined the need to revise the Vietnam Fisheries Law to make it much more suitable for the sector’s business and production in the new context.