VASEP gives proof against WWF over Tra fish

After the World Wildlife Fund’s red-listing Vietnamese Tra fish, officials and the seafood association have given evidences against the move on one hand and urged the industry to focus on image promotion next year.

The actions came at the time when Vietnam was opposing the WWF’s addition of Vietnamese Tra fish to its red list in the updated 2010 Seafood Guides in some European countries. The non-government organisation advised consumers to make an alternative fish choice instead of the Tra fish of Vietnam, saying the country’s fish farming polluted the environment.

In its official press release, Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (Vasep) strongly opposed the judgment and said that the WWF has failed to give convincing evidence to the accusation.

The press release said “Tra fish only consumes non-animal proteins from low cost feeds and can be farmed in a highly populated ponds.”

“The current farming productivity has reached 400 to 600 tonnes per hectare with cost lower than $1 per kilo. Vietnam has now 6,000 square kilometres of water surface to produce more than 1.5 million tonnes of Tra fish every year. That means, the fish is very ideal in terms of economic and ecological values,” it said.

Vasep noted that many seafood processors have applied a complete production chains, and met SQF 1000 CM standards of the Food Marketing Association (FMI), and the US Global standards for agricultural products (Global Gap).

The “red list” also caused strong opposition from the Findus and Birds Eye Iglo, corporations that are importing seafood from around the world, including Tra fish from Vietnam.

WWF Vietnam, meanwhile, said in its press release that The Seafood Guides is published every year in some countries to encourage consumers to buy environmental friendly products. This is not a legal barrier or constraint for international trade.

Nguyen Thanh Bien, deputy minister of Industry and Trade, disagreed with the claim, however.

Opposing the WWF’s downgrading Tra fish in the red list, Bien said that this would harm Vietnam’s exports.

“Major importing markets of Vietnam’s Tra fish know well the products, so the negative impact may not be seen. However, in new markets or places which are easily volatile to rumours, the red-listing will cause negative impacts,” said the trade official.

Seafood image promotion urged

After the WWF’s downgrading Vietnam’s Tra fish as well as some other incidents negatively impacting Vietnamese seafood including shrimp, relevant agencies have called for efforts to promote the good image of seafood products next year.

“The year 2010 witnesses a series of incidents causing challenges to Vietnam’s seafood exports, especially trade barriers, trade disputes and even foul competitions,” said Truong Dinh Hoe, director general of VASEP.

Hoe told a meeting between business associations and officials of Ministry of Industry and Trade on Tuesday that “when the Tra fish exports climb to record of $1.5 billion, it’s sure that we will face protectionist measures from importing countries.”

Vietnam is now the fourth biggest exporter of seafood in the world with 2010′s expected seafood exports of $4.7 billion, including $1.5 billion of Tra fish, according to Hoe, who warned that the barriers, of course, would also be raised against other products, such as shrimp.

Therefore, Hoe did not hold high expectations about seafood export next year, saying the target should be around $5 billion.

He explained that the target of seafood export should not be set at high volume, but rather focus on improving quality and coping with protectionist actions in importing markets.

Vice chair of VASEP and director general of Hung Vuong Corporation Duong Ngoc Minh also lowered the targeted exports of Tra fish next year to $1 billion from this year’s estimated value of $1.5 billion.

“It’s reasonable for the lower target in 2011. We had better curb the industry’s fast growth to ensure a more sustainable development. We should rebuild good image of our Tra fish while still coping with protectionist measures,” he said.

“We should have preparations and updates about decisions of the US Department of Commerce, and promote positive images of the products in Middle East markets to avoid problems such as the WWF’s red-listing Tra fish,” he added.

Besides, VASEP also gave a package of recommendations, including boosting trade promotion activities, offering floor price for Tra fish, promoting the fish’s image in foreign markets, and raising awareness of cooperation between fish farmers and exporters to control quality.

On November 19th, WWF updated the “Seafood Consumers’ Guide 2010 � 2011″ for several countries, in which the Vietnamese pangasius, or Tra fish, was downgraded from YELLOW – “Think twice” to RED – “Don’t buy” list in some countries including Germany, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland.

The change in the status of pangasius was due to a new assessment methodology applied in which environment criteria were more emphasized. There are in total 19 criteria and these covered primarily environmental issues. – Saigon Times

Tags: Vietnam Tra fish exports