VASEP Proposes Cut in Import Tariff on Raw Seafood
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has proposed that the Government lower the import tariffs on raw seafood materials, according to a VASEP official.
As much as 70 per cent of the total raw aquatic materials demanded by local seafood processing companies currently comes from imports, so the 10 per cent-20 per cent import duty is a heavy expense for them, said Nguyen Huu Dung, the vice chairman of the association.
Almost all seafood processors in the Mekong Delta region are facing serious shortages of input materials because fish producers have reduced their farming areas after taking heavy losses last year.
Truong Thi Loan, deputy director of Kien Long Seafood Processing Co. in Kien Giang province, says her company could not fill all its export orders as it could buy only two tons of raw shrimp per day, or one fifth of its processing capacity.
Kim Anh Seafood Processing Co. in Soc Trang province is in the same boat and running at 15 per cent-20 per cent capacity, according to Deputy General Director, Do Ngoc Tai.
Vietnam now imports aquatic products from 40 countries and territories, with total expenditures amounting to US$90 million to US$100 million per annum, or 4 per cent to 5 per cent of the country’s total seafood export revenues.
According to VASEP, it will be difficult for the industry to meet this year’s export target of US$4.5 billion as demands are decreasing in other countries because of the economic downturn.
In the first five months of this year, Vietnam reportedly shipped over US$1.3 billion of seafood abroad, down 9.4 per cent from a year earlier. (Young People)
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