Vietnamese Ambassador to the US, Le Cong Phung, has proposed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) not to put Vietnamese tra and basa fish into the definition of “catfish”.
The proposal was included in letters sent by Phung to U.S. congressmen right after the USDA launched its final regulation draft to create a new definition of "catfish", which considered including Vietnamese pangasius in this definition.
Previously, the USDA was required under the U.S. Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246) to promulgate regulations to govern the inspection of "catfish" by the USDA.
The ambassador drew the U.S. congressmen’s attention to the fact that in 2002 the U.S. Congress prevented Vietnam from calling tra and basa as "catfish".
According to the diplomat, the P.L. 110-246, which is believed by the U.S. government said to only serve to raise safety of foods imported into the U.S., was described by the public as creation of new barriers to trade in goods and services.
If Vietnamese pangasius is defined “catfish”, it will not only let U.S. violate WTO’s commitments but also endanger the opportunity for normal employment of more than one million farmers and workers in Vietnam.
The bilateral relations between Vietnam and the United States are, thus, likely to be impacted significantly, Phung highlighted.
Vietnam is expected to reap US$1 billion from tra and basa fish export in 2009, down from US$1.48 billion in 2008. In the first four months, the country reaped US$265 million from shipping 116,600 tons of the fish abroad, up 1.5 per cent on year.
The country now has 100 pangasius processing plants with total capacity of 1.5 million tons yearly. (Vietnam Economic Times, The People)
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