Exporters reject US’s plan for tra, basa fish

Tra and basa fish producers and exporters from the Mekong city of Can Tho have lodged a petition with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) rejecting its intention to list the products as “catfish”.

According to these businesses, the USDA’s move is aimed at bringing Vietnam ’s tra and basa fish (scientifically named Pangasius) into the list of products under the supervision of the Farm Bill.

Nguyen Viet Thang, chairman of the Vietnam Fisheries Association, said that the USDA’s decision highlights the US authorities’ inconsistence because they did not permit the export of Vietnamese tra and basa fish to the US under the name of “catfish” in fear of negatively influencing its own sheatfish breeding industry. As a result, Vietnam ’s tra and basa fish are now called “Pangasius”.

In the US ’s anti-dumping law, Vietnam ’s tra and basa fish are also defined as “Pangasius”.

Under the terms of the Farm Bill, Vietnamese tra and basa fish eligible for export to the US market must be raised in line with the standards applied to catfish bred in the north-eastern region of the US .

This will cause huge difficulties for Vietnam ’s tra and basa fish exporters as the country’s fish feed in the Mekong River , while US farmers raise Ictalurus catfish in shallow ponds with water pumped up from drilled wells.

In addition, fish food and breeding habits in Vietnam are different from those in the US , resulting in a different quality of fish.

Chairman of the An Giang Fisheries Export-Import Company Ngo Phuoc Hau said that if the US decides to list Vietnamese tra and basa fish as products to be monitored by the Farm Bill, domestic fish breeders will have to pay higher production costs and face lower competitiveness.

Vietnam ’s tra and basa fish have been sold in 130 countries and territories throughout the world. In 2009, Vietnam earned 1.34 billion USD from the export of these products./.

Tags: Vietnam Seafood, Vietnam seafood exports