June 18, 2008

Vietnam, Russia ink seafood partnership agreement

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) and Russian Association of Seafood Traders and Processors recently signed an agreement to develop seafood enterprises together.

In the five-year agreement, VASEP said Russia would update a list of its seafood importers, provide quarterly statistics of seafood imports from Vietnam and give information on trends in the Russian seafood market.

Vietnam in turn agreed to update a list of its seafood exporters to Russia, provide quarterly statistics on export to Russia and send quarterly forecasts on price and new products in seafood.

The two countries pledged to support each other in controlling and improving the quality of exported seafood products in accordance to international standards.

Vietnam's seafood exports to Russia in the first quarter were estimated to be US$60 million, an increase of 30 percent on-year, according to VASEP.

Thirty eight Vietnamese seafood firms have so far received licenses to export seafood to Russia.