April 25, 2009

Leading Asian shrimp groups to cooperate on industry development

The associations from leading Asian shrimp producing countries are looking to join hands to help in the development of the shrimp industry.

The China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Association (CAPPMA), Thai Shrimp Association (TSA), Indonesian Shrimp Board of Commodity (ISBC) and the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters & Producers (VASEP), prepared a multilateral statement of measures designed to promote cooperation and the favourable growth of shrimp production.

The goal of the cooperative measures is to maintain a healthy shrimp industry and to sustain its development, the associations said.

China, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam produce 80 percent of the world's farmed shrimp.

The farmed shrimp industry has been growing fast but the export market began to shrink in 2008 with prices declining rapidly and profits did not increase proportionately due to higher production costs. The market conditions are not expected to improve anytime soon because of the current world economic woes.

Demand from import markets is expected to remain low and keep prices down, therefore the associations are looking to boost domestic consumption.

The associations reached an agreement with the following measure:

• establish regular information exchange channels with each association assigning a coordinator to facilitate effective communication
   
• work together to take measures to reduce or eliminate trade tariffs and technical barriers and to share the latest technologies in shrimp farming and processing
   
• share information and maintain a black list of international companies that engage in questionable or illegal business practices in order to discourage dealings with such companies
   
• produce only according to demand as the production scale in each country is planned and developed and of protecting the benefit in each part of the industry
   
• improve the shrimp products processing and management, to increase the variety of products, expand the domestic shrimp consumption market and increase the diversification of the market in order to boost demand
   
• establish traceability systems, and encourage enterprises to reach for appropriate international certifications
   
• consider the establishment of a global shrimp industry alliance with a rotating president, to include the other main producing countries such as Ecuador, India, Mexico, Brazil, Bangladesh, among others.