September 15, 2010

Vietnamese tra fish ranks 10th in America's top seafood products

Vietnam's tra fish has become America's 10th most popular seafood product in 2009 for the first time, the Vietnamese Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) reported.

The annual list of the 10 most popular US seafood products was released by the National Fisheries Institute on September 9.

Luong Le Phuong, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said that as tra fish is one of Vietnam's major exports, the ministry has introduced measures to strictly control its quality throughout the stages from farming to processing and marketing.

According to VASEP, in the first seven months of this year, Vietnamese seafood exports to the US reached US$435 million, of which tra fish accounted for US$80.8 million, up 14% from the same period last year, with the volume reaching over 26,000 tonnes.

However, the US's Department of Commerce has made a decision on anti-dumping tax based on the administrative review of tra fish imports from Vietnam between August 2008 and July 2009, resulting in Vietnamese seafood exporters facing higher tariffs.

Nguyen Huu Dung, the Deputy Chairman of VASEP said that the unreasonable tariffs have made many Vietnamese businesses suffer heavy losses and tra fish exports to the US will find it harder in the near future.