VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese seafood companies have been worried to death about the new required technical standards imposed by the US which will bar the way for Vietnam’s catfish to penetrate the US market.
Nguyen Duy Khien, Director of the America Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, on February 6 said under the farm bill approved by the US Congress, the function of monitoring the catfish imports will be handed over to the Department of Commerce (DOC) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
According to Khien, the FDA has been examining catfish imports from Vietnam accidentally, while it has not granted standard certificates. However, when the bill takes effect, DOC will examine all the chains of the production chain, from the processing to packaging, export. Especially, it will pay a special attention to examine the quality to ensure the food hygiene right at the production workshops.
Vietnamese seafood companies foresee that the require standards are unfeasible. This has made them worried stiff, because the US, together with the EU, are the two biggest markets for Vietnam’s catfish.
Nguoi lao dong has quoted Truong Dinh Hoe, Secretary General of the Vietnam Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) as saying that Vietnam exported 100,000 tons of catfish to the US, worth $300 million in 2013.
The frozen catfish filet imports to the US have been increasing sharply since 2007. In 2012, the US imported 213.8 million of catfish pounds, an increase of 255 percent over 2007.
In 2007, Vietnam’s catfish only accounted for 37 percent of the US market, while the figure soared to 76 percent in 2012.
A report showed that in 2012, each American person consumed 0.73 pounds of import catfish, an increase of 105 percent in comparison with 2009, which was explained by the increasing prices of the domestically bred catfish.
The figures show that Vietnam’s catfish has been more and more favored in the US market. However, the situation may be changed with the US farm bill.
“The US just tries to set up a new technical barrier in an attempt to hinder the hot development of the Vietnam’s catfish sale in the US market. The quality of Vietnam’s catfish is not the reason behind the reason,” said Le Chi Binh, Deputy Chair of the An Giang provincial Catfish Association.
Nguyen Van Kich, Deputy Chair of the Vietnam Catfish Association, General Director of Cafatex, has warned that once the bill takes effects, no Vietnam’s catfish would be able to enter the Vietnamese market because of the impractical and unfeasible requirements.
The US has set up very strict requirements on the water environment, the farming density and the veterinary conditions. Meanwhile, the biggest advantage of Vietnam’s catfish is that fish grows up in the natural environment. If Vietnamese breed fish in farms as required, their catfish products would be uncompetitive because of the high production costs.
Kich believes that the newly set requirements would be unfeasible even for the US catfish industry. “It’s like the US tries to close its doors to Vietnam’s catfish,” he commented.
Khien said the Ministry of Industry and Trade has sent a letter to the US, opposing the bill for the unfairness.
Meanwhile, Pham Anh Tuan, Deputy General Director of the Fisheries General Directorate, believes the problem is not as serious as thought.
Thanh Mai
Đăng ký: VietNam News