Vietnam, Germany Collaborating to Boost Seafood Exports to Europe

The Vietnamese seafood industry is going to collaborate with Germany’s BLG Logistic Coldstore to step up exports to the European Union market.

 

According to a project drafted by the Fisheries Ministry and the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), VASEP and BLG Logistic Coldstore will establish two companies to export and promote Vietnamese seafood in Germany and the EU.

 

The two companies will be named the Vietnam Bremen GmbH and the German Bremen GmbH. The first will be owned by VASEP, which will specialize in purchasing Vietnamese seafood, transferring it to the latter. The second company will be in charge of marketing and promoting sales to EU dealers. VASEP will also hold a large proportion of capital in the latter company.

 

According to an official from VASEP, the companies will be set up in Bremen, serving as a channel for imports of Vietnamese seafood into a bonded warehouse at the port. Vietnam will have products available for sale to German enterprises, with expectations of wider European sales.

 

They will also set up two bonded warehouses in Ho Chi Minh City and Bremenrhaven, and a laboratory in Ho Chi Minh City, which is recognized as the most important part of the project.

 

The laboratory, once operational, will have the right to examine Vietnamese seafood products prior to them entering the EU. The examination will help minimize products being rejected due to poor hygiene or antibiotic use. The laboratory will be set up in the southern economic hub, and will examine about 2,000 containers of seafood per year.

 

The EU is an extensive market with large, stable demand for seafood. About 20 per cent of Vietnamese seafood is exported to the market, particularly fish and shrimp. After shrimp exports to the US were slapped with anti-dumping duties, Vietnam’s seafood exports to the EU saw a 92 per cent increase over 2003.