November 8, 2007
Japan's ban on Vietnam seafood may benefit India
India is likely to seize a good opportunity from Japan's likely ban on seafood exports from Vietnam due to poor quality.
Japan has withheld six consignments of seafood from Vietnam due to excessive chloramphenicol contents found in its shipments.
Adding more burden are the stringent laws enacted by the Japanese government has which would make it difficult to Vietnam to meet its requirements.
Japan is the second largest destination of Indian seafood, next to European Union.
The six consignments, five of shrimp and one cuttlefish, were exported by five Vietnamese companies Thuan Phuoc Seafood and Trading Company, Quy Nhon Frozen Seafood Company, Cadvimex Seafood Import-Export, Nha Trang Seafood Processing Company and Hai Nam Co. The Japanese government said that the imports would either be returned or destroyed.
Sources at the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers said that the strict regulations on food hygiene had recently slowed down Vietnam's seafood exports to Japan.
In the first nine months of the current year, Japan imported seafood worth US$525.6 million from Vietnam, down by 12.2 percent over the same period last year.
In the second half of 2006, 4.6 percent of export consignments were found to contain greater than the permitted levels of antibiotic residue. That figure decreased to 1.6 percent in the first half of 2007 which further decreased by 0.7 percent in July 2007.
Despite the decline, Japan is already seeking other supply sources. The country has purchased greater amounts of jumbo and processed shrimp from Thailand and material shrimp from India and Indonesia.
The deceleration in Vietnam's marine exports to Japan comes as a boon for India, with the country's exports to Japan recently picking up. Valuewise, Japan contributed 16.18 percent (Rs 1353.38 crore) to India's total marine exports during 2006/07.
As of date, India's seafood shipments to Japan increased by 12.80 percent to 67,437 tonnes.
