June 29, 2004

Vietnamese Shrimp Industry Affected By Anti-dumping Case

The shrimp anti-dumping case brought by the Southern Shrimp Alliance of the US could result in losses of millions of US dollars in Viet Nam-US trade, said a report made public by ActionAid Viet Nam at a press conference in Ha Noi on Monday.

The report also said hundreds of thousands of labourers working in Viet Nam's shrimp industry face unemployment. Many of them will fall back into poverty, and their confidence in free and fair international trade destroyed.

Action Aid Viet Nam, an international non-governmental organisation, held that the case against Viet Nam's shrimp industry is based on the argument that the shrimp is being dumped on the US market unfairly. According to the organisation's research, Viet Nam's shrimp has gained its advantage in the US market become of its reasonable price thanks to favourable natural raising conditions, modern processing techniques, and low labour costs.

The NGO said 86 percent of the Vietnamese farmers interviewed in its research are the bread-winners of their families. And it is they who are the most vulnerable and will suffer the most if the US Department of Commerce adopts an anti-dumping tax on Viet Nam's shrimp exports to the US.

ActionAid Viet Nam's research was conducted in March this year in five major shrimp-producing provinces of Viet Nam, namely Ca Mau, Soc Trang, Ho Chi Minh City in the south, Phu Yen in the central region, and Hai Phong in the north. Conducting the research were representatives of ActionAid Viet Nam, Vietnamese social organisations such as the Fishery Association and the Farmers Association, as well as the media. The researchers interviewed people from different walks of life, from farmers, business people, to leaders of corporations, the fishery sector, quality control agencies and local governments.

Phan Van Ngoc, head of ActionAid Viet Nam's research and policy lobby section, said thousands of Vietnamese farmer households have escaped poverty and gradually improved their standard of living thanks to shrimp raising. A higher tax rate on Viet Nam's shrimp exported to the US will affect not only those who work in Viet Nam's shrimp industry but also US consumers.

Other organisations have also raised their voice against the shrimp anti-dumping case, including the American Seafood Distributors Association, the National Shrimp Industry Association, and the American Chamber of Commerce, and the American Soybean Association, as well as members of parliament. 

Andrew Wells-Dang, chief representative of the US Fund for Reconciliation and Development, said most of the shrimp rearers are farmers. The shrimp anti-dumping case was filed by a small group of Americans against American consumers, so numerous organisations and businesses involved in imports have rallied to resist the case.

He added if the US imposes a tax level ranging between 10 and 25 percent on Vietnamese shrimps it will continue to be competitive in the US market. If the duty is high, as it was in last year's catfish case, then it will be impossible or nearly impossible for the Vietnamese to continue exporting to the US.

Deputy Secretary General of the Viet Nam Fishery Association Bui Van Thuong said that at a forum on SSA's shrimp dumping lawsuit against six countries, including Viet Nam, held in Ho Chi Minh City last Saturday, 86 delegates proposed that the US Government should have an objective attitude when considering the lawsuit and respect the principle of non-discrimination as stated in the Viet Nam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement.