Australian delegation to learn about Vietnamese shrimp production
Australian delegation to learn about Vietnamese shrimp production
An Australian delegation will visit Viet Nam from February 26 to March 2 to learn about the processing chain for shrimps exported to Australia.
This was announced by the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
The delegation will focus on the main issues, including prevention and control of aquatic animal diseases and issuance of shrimp export quarantine certification. It will visit the laboratories where shrimps are tested for white spot syndrome and yellow head disease before being exported.
Delegation members will also visit other facilities related to the shrimp processing chain, including facilities that produce shrimp varieties, breed shrimps and process the exported shrimps, in Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Kien Giang and Ca Mau provinces.
To ensure favourable conditions for the delegation to understand the process and to further the export of Vietnamese shrimps to the Australian market, the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will coordinate with VASEP and local seafood firms exporting shrimps to Australia to support the exporters while working with the Australian delegation.
The department said local seafood exporters should actively review the processing chain for seafood exports to Australia, including infrastructure conditions, equipment, quality management system, records, data, processes relating to production chains and bio-safety conditions.
According to the Viet Nam Trade Office in Australia, seafood products have great potential of being exported to Australia because the market there needs some one million tonnes of seafood. Australia’s domestic production only meets 30 per cent of the demand, which is why the country needs to import 70 per cent of seafood, including canned fish, fillet fish, shrimp, squid and octopus. The demand continues to increase with population growth.
At present, Viet Nam is Australia’s fourth largest seafood supplier after Thailand, New Zealand and China, but Vietnamese seafood products account for just 11 per cent of the market share.
Viet Nam, however, is the largest shrimp supplier to Australia, with a market share of 35 per cent.
The Trade Office said Australia was a potential seafood export market for Viet Nam, but local businesses must strictly comply with Australian regulations on food hygiene and safety as well as bio-safety. There are still some cases of Vietnamese seafood failing to meet Australian food safety requirements. This has affected the reputation of Vietnamese seafood products, the office said.
Last year, Viet Nam’s seafood export value reached the highest at US$8.3 billion, an increase of $1 billion compared to 2016. Of this, $3.8 billion came from shrimp exports, with a year-on-year increase of 21 per cent.
