October 16, 2009

Vietnamese seafood exporters have been advised to be careful in exporting seafood to Australia as the country has applied a new law on checking net weight of packed seafood, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

VASEP said the new law allows Australian authorities to check and detect whether net weight of imported packed seafood lighter than that announced on the package or not.

Exporting companies detected cheating in packing seafood to Australia will be fined up to AUD100,000.

The Vietnam Trade Office in Australia said the Australia Association of Seafood Importers has proposed to the Australian government to withdraw export license of cheating companies.

The government of Victoria State already applied the law from July 23, 2009 and will check net weight of packed seafood from Nov 1.

The deputy minister said Vietnamese exporting companies should be careful in packing products and take measures to meet the new requirements from Australia unless they will damage Vietnamese seafood's prestige.

Australia is one of ten largest importers of Vietnamese seafood, consuming nearly 15,400 tonnes valued at US$76 million so far this year.