June 16, 2006

Fresh EU amendments facilitate Vietnam's seafood exporters

New amendments to EU's regulation on food hygiene has allowed 33 more Vietnamese export businesses to export to the EU, Vietnam's fisheries deputy minister Luong Le Phuong said.

The new measure, effective as of Jun 1, takes the total number of Vietnamese seafood export companies allowed to export to the EU to 200.

Under the new measures, seafood products imported from Vietnam would be examined and granted with hygiene and quality certificates by domestically authorised offices instead of the EU.

The EU also added various agricultural and seafood items to its list of items under preferential tariff status. Many Vietnamese goods were expected to benefit from the preferential taxes.

The preferential tariffs are set to be lower than that of the Most Favored Nation (MFN) status which range from 3.5 to 20 percent.

The EU imports EUR500 million (US$632 million) in seafood products from ASEAN, in which Vietnam represents over 50 percent.

The EU accounts for 22-24 percent of the total export value of Vietnam and exports to the EU market have increased sharply in recent years, particularly to Britain, France and Germany.

Industrial exports rose slightly, while farm products and seafood made up more than 85 percent of Vietnam's export turnover.