Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien (second from left) visits seafood export booths at the International Seafood Exhibition. Photo: T.H

At the International Seafood Exhibition held last weekend in Ho Chi Minh City, sharing with the press, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Phung Duc Tien said that there are many opportunities for exporting Vietnamese seafood.

Dear Deputy Minister, the fisheries industry is making a breakthrough in the last months of the year, so how is trade promotion during this period?

- In the first 7 months of 2024, the total aquatic product output of the country reached 5,225.8 thousand tons, an increase of 2.6% over the same period last year. Of which, aquatic product exploitation is estimated at 2,303.7 thousand tons, an increase of 0.9%, reaching 65% of the 2024 plan; the value of aquatic product export turnover reached 5.29 billion USD, an increase of 7.3% over the same period in 2023 and reaching 55.7% of the 2024 plan.

With this momentum, plus the trade promotion activities of the Government, businesses have expanded to many more markets, especially niche markets, the Halal market - this is a market with great potential and advantages. In 2023, this market imported more than 9.3 million tons of aquatic products, this year will certainly be more. With more output and more exports, we will reach the finish line and achieve the 2024 plan. Thereby, by 2025, it will create a premise for the seafood industry to reach the finish line according to the export plan in the period 2021 - 2025.

Currently, China is one of the major markets for Vietnamese seafood. How does the Deputy Minister assess the potential of this market?

- For the Chinese market of more than 1.4 billion people, it is important not only for seafood but also for the agricultural sector. The Chinese market is always number one and two, with a value of approximately over 21 billion USD, this is a huge advantage, however, we still have to continue negotiating to have more export opportunities.

Recently, during the State visit of General Secretary and President To Lam to the People's Republic of China, on August 19, 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam and the General Department of Customs of China signed a Protocol on the export of frozen durian, fresh coconut and crocodile, opening up great opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises to bring agricultural products to this market. However, seafood has not been signed yet. Thus, for a very potential market like China, in the long term, to expand exports to China, we must strive to negotiate and sign an export Protocol for seafood products.

Vietnam is the world's third largest seafood exporter, accounting for over 7% of the world market share, behind only China and Norway. Seafood is considered one of the country's key industries, contributing significant value to our country's economy as well as global logistics services. In 2024, Vietnam's seafood industry strives to achieve the target of 10 billion USD in export value.

How will the upcoming inspection on combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, if passed, increase the export value of Vietnamese seafood enterprises, sir?

- As we know, the IUU "yellow card" has been applied to Vietnamese seafood since October 23, 2017, nearly 7 years ago, greatly affecting Vietnam's exports to the EU market. We are still making great efforts to overcome it. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, together with other ministries and branches, has implemented drastic and active solutions to combat IUU fishing. The fourth inspection team of the EC also recognized the drastic participation of the entire political system. However, when we were applied the "yellow card", it restricted some products from entering Europe - a very important market for Vietnamese seafood. On the other hand, it also affected a few other markets. Thus, the work to overcome the "yellow card" is being carried out very drastically to pass the upcoming inspection of the EC.

So what is the policy mechanism for removing the IUU "yellow card" as well as developing exports for the seafood industry, Deputy Minister?

- Regarding the removal of the IUU “yellow card”, the current policy mechanism and legal document system are not lacking anything. The legal framework has been basically completed with the Fisheries Law and documents guiding the implementation of the Law being amended and supplemented according to the EC's recommendations. The Secretariat has issued Directive 32-CT/TW on strengthening the Party's leadership in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and sustainable development of the fisheries sector. The Government has issued Resolution No. 52/NQ-CP dated April 22, 2024 promulgating the Action Program and Plan to implement Directive No. 32-CT/TW of the Secretariat. The Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court has issued Resolution No. 04/NQ-HDTP guiding the application of a number of provisions of the Penal Code on criminal prosecution for acts related to illegal exploitation, trading and transportation of aquatic products.

The problem is how to organize the implementation. Currently, 11 projects and solutions are being completed to submit to the Prime Minister for signing and implementation until the end of 2025 and until 2030. Thus, the environment and legal basis are very complete; the Prime Minister also met with the Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and banks with a package of 15,000 billion VND, after this package, another package of 15,000 billion VND will be added. Thus, with the credit package of 30,000 billion VND, the difficulties in capital sources for enterprises will be resolved... creating momentum for seafood exporting enterprises.

Source: Hai Quan Online