June 11, 2012

Foreign importers send back 287 tonnes Vietnamese substandard seafood

Due to substandard quality, 287 tonnes of Vietnamese seafood worth US$2.9 million have been returned by foreign importers in January-May of this year, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said.

Food hygiene violation and excessive residue of antibiotic were attributed to the returned shipments, though the amount is still small compared to the country's seafood exports, the ministry said.

To tackle the situation, local seafood exporters are strictly addressing the residue of antibiotics and preservative on input materials. They will check every single cargo before its shipment.

Vietnam exported 541,000 tonnes of seafood worth US$2.31 billion in the first five months of this year, up 5.73% and 9.6% on year, respectively, the ministry said. In May, the country shipped 110,250 tonnes of seafood abroad worth US$500 million, down 1.31% in volume but up 2.38% in value.

The Vietnamese seafood export to the EU, the biggest market for Vietnamese seafood, decreased 10% in value during January-May. The economic repression of the bloc was attributed to the fall, the ministry said.

Local seafood exporters are looking for new markets to offset for the falling exports to the EU. Seafood exports to other markets such as the US, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN recorded good growth rates. Similarly, exports to China, Canada and Australia also posted healthy growth pace in the January-May period.

Vietnam targets to earn US$6.6 billion from seafood exports this year, rising from US$6.323 billion last year.