Seafood export: Goods in demand, but worries
Despite maintaining good growth momentum, seafood exports are still facing difficulties due to fluctuating raw material sources. Ensuring stability and sustainability for the export of this key product is still a problem without a complete solution.
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After Vietnam's shrimp escaped the anti-dumping lawsuit in the US, combined with the high price of shrimp in the world market, the export turnover of this item increased sharply, leading to the general growth of seafood exports. According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), seafood exports in October continued to grow positively, estimated at about 680 million USD, up 14% over the same period last year, with total seafood exports reaching 5.5 billion USD in the first 10 months, up 7.3%. Ms. To Thi Tuong Lan - Deputy General Secretary of VASEP - shared: Shrimp and pangasius are the two export items with the highest turnover. In particular, the growth of the shrimp industry has brought a positive signal to seafood exports in 2013 when shrimp exports to the US market alone increased by over 100% in September. It is estimated that this year's seafood export turnover will reach over 6.5 billion USD.
Vasep forecasts that shrimp exports this year will reach about 2.8 billion USD, up 27% compared to 2012, of which white-leg shrimp accounts for about 48.7% of the total shrimp export value, up 168% in October and reaching nearly 200 million USD. In the first 10 months of the year, white-leg shrimp exports increased by 95% and reached 1.18 billion USD.
Mr. Vo Van Quyen - Director of Domestic Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade): There is a phenomenon of collecting white-leg shrimp and seafood products in some localities. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has directed the Departments of Industry and Trade to resolutely fight against the illegal activities of people with foreign passports buying raw shrimp under the tourist route. |
Despite good export turnover and forecasts of many growth opportunities in the coming time, shrimp exports are facing difficulties due to unstable raw material sources.
According to Ms. Lan, a large portion of raw shrimp still “flows” to China through unofficial channels, which not only causes difficulties for domestic shrimp processing enterprises but also makes it difficult to control the quality of products called “Vietnamese shrimp”. Ms. Lan analyzed: While we are working hard to build a reputation for exported shrimp products in the market, many Chinese shrimp products that do not ensure quality are said to have raw materials from Vietnam. “It is our partners in major markets who have warned us about this phenomenon and are concerned that it will have a negative impact on the reputation of the Vietnamese shrimp industry in the world market,” Ms. Lan said.
Faced with this situation, Ms. Phan Thi Dieu Ha, Deputy Director of the Import-Export Department - Ministry of Industry and Trade - said: The Ministry of Industry and Trade has assigned units in the industry to coordinate closely in managing the export of raw shrimp across the border to ensure raw material sources for domestic production. Ms. Ha affirmed: The Import-Export Department will continue to coordinate with Vasep and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to have specific assessments on this issue, and at the same time make recommendations in management activities such as export tax policies, resource tax on raw shrimp, etc.
According to baocongthuong
