Vietnam drafts new rules for seafood exports to Russia

Vietnamese agricultural authorities have drafted new regulations for seafood export to Russia, tightening control of quality and quantity of the product and preventing exporters from dumping there.

 

Russia lifted a ban on Vietnamese seafood imports this month.

 

The ban was in place since late last year after some shipments of Vietnamese seafood were found contaminated with banned chemicals.

 

Russian authorities also claimed that Vietnamese exporters progressively lowered prices to compete with one another, hurting Russian importers.

 

Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) assured on Wednesday (Apr 22) that Vietnamese seafood businesses would cooperate to price exports to Russia to ensure the products are not dumped and farmers make profit.

 

VASEP official Duong Ngoc Minh said the new regulations stipulate that exporters would meet every one or three months to agree on export quantities and prices.

 

VASEP secretary general Truong Dinh Hoe said the regulations require seafood exports to Russia to contain less than 20 percent water, adding that exporters must inform VASEP in advance about their shipments to get approval.

 

Vietnam plans to export 100,000 tonnes of pangasius - Vietnam's major seafood exports to the market - to Russia this year.

 

Last year 118,000 tonnes of the fish were shipped to Russia before the ban was slapped on in late December.

 

According to Minh, Russian authorities also banned importers of Vietnamese seafood from selling pangasius at below US$2.30 a kilogram.

 

According to VASEP, the first shipment of 10,000 tons of pangusius would leave for Russia later this month and the second in early May.

 

Minh, who heads the association's managing board of seafood export to Russia, said members would be assisted if they respect the regulations.

 

Vietnam Russia Bank chief executive officer Nguyen Van Pham said the bank would provide VND3 trillion (US$167 million) to finance seafood trade between the two countries.

 

Pham said the bank which was established and supported by the two governments to boost bilateral trade, has loaned VND400 million (US$2.2 million) to VND500 billion (US$2.7 million) to the industry so far.

 

US$1 = VND17,780 (Apr 27)