Red tape holds back cuttlefish exports

Exports of processed mollusc continued to increase last month, despite a shortage of the invertebrates and the need to import them.

This month, more than 9,200 tonnes of molluscs worth US$34.5 million were exported, $20 million higher than in April, the Department of Customs reported, bringing exports in the first five months of the year to 38,000 tonnes, earning $143 million.

The association expected a further sharp increase in coming months, especially among cuttlefish and octopus to Japan and all kinds of molluscs to the US, due to increasing demand after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

However, processors faced a shortage of molluscs, exacerbated by complicated regulations and quarantines on imported seafood, the association said.

The Government needed cut the import tax to zero for molluscs, like many countries in the region, instead of taxing then at the rate of 10-20 per cent, the association said. In addition, favourable conditions should be created for importing seafood for processing, including simplification of procedures.

In the past three years, seafood imports totalled 150,000 tonnes worth of $320 million, mostly raw frozen seafood to be processed for export.

Mollusc exports to the to European Union began to recover from March to become one of the nation’s largest export markets, the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers said.

In the first four months, Mollusc exports to the EU reached 11,400 tonnes, earning $35.4 million, the association said.

Mollusc exports to South Korea ($35.5 million), Japan ($21.5 million), ASEAN ($6.5 million), China, Hong Kong and the US also increased sharply in the first four months of this year. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam cuttlefish exports, Vietnam Seafood, Vietnam seafood sector