Vietnam was estimated to fetch up nearly US$329 million from seafood exports in the first two months of this year, up only 3.3 per cent against the same period last year, according to the Government Statistics Office.
In February alone, the seafood shipments reportedly raked in USUS$150 million from seafood exports last month, equal to nearly 12 per cent of the yearly plan and representing a year-on-year increase of 2.7 per cent.
The figure, however, was about USUS$30 million less than the previous month due to a shortage of input ingredients, especially in the Mekong Delta.
Insufficient input materials have already forced some frozen shrimp factories to import shrimp from China and India to ensure timely delivery of their products.
At present, seafood processing factories in the Mekong Delta are running at only 10-20 per cent of their capacity as a result of thin material supplies, which also led to a sharp decrease in prices of some aquatic products.
The price of tiger prawns has risen to VND115,000 per kilo, up VND30,000-40,000 per kilo.
To improve the quality of aquatic products for export and ensure enough ingredients for processing, localities are linking processing factories with aquaculture farmers through wholesale contracts and providing financial support for the farmers.
In the same move, the Ministry of Fisheries (MoF) has asked all seafood factories nationwide to seriously check all marine products for quality and hygiene before being processed, said Nguyen Tu Cuong, Director of the Center for Quality Control and Hygiene under the ministry.
Though the center had conducted quality inspections at aquaculture farms or at fish landing ports, the method had not proved effective, the director said.
The center was also giving the final touches to two documents on inspecting the quality of shrimp for exports for training 30 enterprises for conducing inspections.
Once these enterprises finish training, the center plans to encourage inspections among enterprises to ensure the quality of produce. The center would also provide them chemicals and facilities required to conduct these inspections.
In addition, those violating rules and regulations on quality and hygiene would be strictly punished, including a first time fine of VND15 million (USUS$949.3) for violators. If the enterprises continue to flout rules, the center would revoke their licenses and ban them from exporting.
The major Vietnamese seafood importers include the EU, the US, and Japan.
Vietnam & World Economy, VNS
Vietnamese
