Vietnam Sets up Committee on Catfish Production, Exports

Vietnam Sets up Committee on Catfish Production, Exports

The Ministry of Fisheries has set up an executive board for overall supervision of raising and processing tra and basa catfish for export in a move to support local marine exporters, according to Minister Ta Quang Ngoc.

The board will have 11 members representing the ministry, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) and major catfish farming provinces like An Giang, Vinh Long and Can Tho, Ngoc said.

The board will boost the quality and trademarks of tra and basa catfish, strive for an annual production target of one million tons by 2010, and a projected earning of US$800 million by the same period. The board will also decide to expand or contract shrimp raising areas based on market behavior, quality control, and enforce uniform export prices.

It will report quarterly to the fisheries ministry on production and consumption of tra and basa catfish. The board will transfer the supervision role to VASEP when the sector becomes better organized.

In related news, the ministry has planned a meeting with producers, exporters and other relevant authorities to deal with the current falling prices of tra and basa catfish on May 23. Earlier this week, the An Giang Fisheries Association (AFA) sent a letter to Prime Minister Phan Van Khai demanding a Government investigation into the activities of certain tra and basa catfish exporters accused of price manipulation, threatening the livelihood of thousands of farmers in the Mekong River Delta.

In a recent letter to Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, the AFA’s chairman, Nguyen Huu Khanh, said that current tra and basa catfish prices are 10-15 per cent lower than in preceding months. The prices decreased when some exporters unexpectedly offered catfish products at prices below the floor-prices collectively agreed upon by Vietnamese exporters at the recent 2005 Brussels Seafood Trade Fair, he said.

At the 2005 Brussels Seafood Trade Fair, one Vietnamese exporter breached the exporters’ agreement, offering to sell catfish at US$2.6 per kg - US$0.3 cheaper than the US$2.9 floor price. This suggests that the products did not reach the quality expected for US$2.9 per kg.

An import-export quality control group from Yunnan’s Hekou arrived in Hanoi for a one-week inspection of Vietnamese seafood to be exported to this Chinese province. The five-member group has held meetings with Vietnam’s National Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate (Nafiqaved) and exporters and will travel to seafood raising areas.

Last year, Vietnam exported around 48,000 tons of seafood worth US$131 million to China, an increase of 11.2 per cent over 2003. However, Vietnamese seafood is not widely consumed in Yunnan. Vietnam’s largest catfish markets include the US, the European Union, China and Hong Kong.

While the catfish farmers are struggling, shrimp raisers face a similarly gloomy future, with prices almost halving to VND60,000-65,000 a kg. According to VASEP, if the US’s International Trade Committee (ITC) decides to waive the dumping tariffs currently imposed on Thailand and India, the ability of Vietnamese shrimp exporters to compete in this major market will be further restricted.

A Vietnam trade representative in the US said that Vietnamese shrimp exporters should set up subsidiaries in the US to provide a foothold in the distribution network. As well as seeking to boost quality and hygiene, shrimp exporters should develop fresh products and attend seafood trade fairs in the US to find new shrimp export opportunities, he added.

Hau of Agifish said the establishment of an agency to look over all of the activities relating to the raising and processing of seafood for export was necessary. "It could decide whether to expand or contract shrimp raising areas based upon market behavior, control quality, and enforce uniform export prices," he said.

Many exporters share the view that the need for such an agency is of crucial importance. "If an agency manages to boost quality to meet the importers’ requirements and keep supply and demand balanced, shrimp and tra and basa catfish raising will be able to develop more effectively," one export business director said.

VNS