According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the current bottleneck in the seafood processing and export industry is the lack of raw materials, because the exploitation output is not enough to meet demand; so we have to add more supply from imports. However, EU market regulations and Vietnam's new regulations related to IUU fishing (illegal, unreported and unregulated seafood exploitation) are causing further bottlenecks in raw materials. .

Mr. Nguyen Nam Vinh, Deputy Director of Huy Nam Company Limited (Kien Giang province) said that; in Decree 37/2024/ND-CP and Decision 5523/QD-BNN-CCPT promulgating "Program for safety control of aquatic foods and aquatic products exported to the EU market"; There are some contents that cause problems for businesses such as: 48 hours in advance, businesses must provide documents confirming raw materials of imported shipments subject to confirmation. This is a big challenge for businesses in the industry.

“Huy Nam Company is importing raw materials from countries in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Indonesia... the time it takes for a ship to transport goods to a Vietnamese port is less than 2 days (48 hours). With goods imported by container, when the goods are on board the ship at the export port, businesses will have information to prepare documents and documents; So import businesses have no way to declare 48 hours or 72 hours in advance as prescribed. Thus, we are forced to violate regulations, otherwise we will not have raw materials for production," Mr. Vinh was frustrated.

Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Huynh Thanh Linh, Import-Export Director of Hai Vuong Co., Ltd. analyzed that a cargo ship arriving at a Vietnamese port does not mean that the goods have been imported. Goods are only considered imported into Vietnam when importing businesses complete customs clearance procedures.

Not only tightening on IUU, currently, many markets are increasing control of food hygiene and safety issues such as banning irradiation, banning the use of chlorate-based disinfectants...

Ms. Cao Thi Kim Lan, Director of Binh Dinh Seafood Joint Stock Company (Bidifisco) said; At Bidifisco in particular, as well as businesses in the tuna industry in general, it is difficult to make raw material certification (S/C). “There are many reasons why businesses are not issued S/C after purchasing raw materials due to some issues that are difficult for us to know clearly such as confirming food safety conditions for fishing vessels; or fishing vessels operating in waters that do not comply with regulations... Although these fishing vessels are still allowed to go out to sea to exploit normally, are inspected and allowed to dock. Therefore, the source of raw materials for production at the enterprise's factory is always in short supply or only just enough for use," Ms. Lan stated in fact.

VASEP informed that many new regulations are causing difficulties for businesses in the industry. With IUU mining, the 5th inspection by the European Community (EC) is expected in October 2024, which is the decisive time for Vietnam to remove the yellow card warning in 2024. Therefore, industries, businesses and localities need to act unanimously with the highest determination to remove the yellow card warning.

Also according to VASEP, regarding exploited and imported seafood materials, regulations in Decree 37/2024/ND-CP recently issued require notification; Declaring documents 72 hours before docking for foreign ships and 48 hours for container ships is not feasible.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Sac, President of VASEP stated; Decree 37 stipulates "Do not mix aquatic raw materials originating from imported exploitation with aquatic raw materials originating from domestic exploitation into the same export shipment". The new regulations with the unclear concept of "mixing raw materials" cause confusion for many businesses and are not reasonable with the actual production and business of seafood businesses.

That is also the reason why recently, VASEP sent Official Dispatch No. 54/CV-VASEP to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of Fisheries; Department of Fisheries Inspection, Department of Quality... recommends some inadequacies in Decree 37/2024/ND-CP, Decree 38/2024/ND-CP and a number of related current regulations; We request the Ministry's leaders to consider and direct the review and removal of shortcomings in order to maintain legal production and exploitation of fishermen and the competitiveness and export capacity of businesses and industry chains.

“The Association and the Vietnamese seafood business community are committed to always accompanying the Government in its efforts to remove the IUU yellow card. However, when issuing regulations, state management agencies need to clearly define the goal of solving the problem of control from the root of the exploitation chain; Processing; "export" is about managing seafood fishing activities at sea, not just dealing with the top part which is the purchasing and processing activities of the enterprise", Ms. Thu Sac shared.

Source: Dau Tu Newspaper