VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam’s catfish export industry is experiencing stormy days because of strict rules set by the US, which tries to protect its local catfish production.

Vietnam’s catfish export industry is experiencing stormy days because of strict rules set by the US.

The US has issued new rules for catfish suppliers, under which both US and foreign catfish suppliers will have to meet the same US production standards in farming and processing, to be eligible to sell their products in the US market.

According to Thanh Nien, Vietnamese exporters of pangasius catfish (tra fish) are adopting different global quality standards such as B.A.P. and Global G.A.P. as references for their shipments to the US. Out of Vietnam’s total tra fish exports, roughly 20 percent are shipped to the US, earning annual revenue of about $300 million.

The increasingly high import volume of Vietnam’s catfish in recent years has made 20 percent of US catfish farming establishments suffer.

As such, from September 1, 2017, Vietnam’s catfish will have to get the US Department of Agriculture’s certificate on homologous standards to enter the US. This is described as a strong blow dealt on Vietnam’s catfish industry on the threshold of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).

Earlier this year, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced the final result of the POR 10 (the 10th period of review) over anti-dumping duties against Vietnam’s frozen filet catfish for the period from August 1, 2012 to July 31, 2013. 

Despite convincing proof shown by Vietnamese exporters, DOC still decided to impose a hefty anti-dumping duty of nearly $1 per kilo on catfish imports from Vietnam.

In mid-September, DOC released a preliminary decision on the anti-dumping duty after the POR 11 (the 11th period of review) applied for the period from August 1, 2013 to July 31, 2014. Vietnam’s Hung Vuong Corp and Tafishco, the two compulsory defendants, bear the anti-dumping duties of $0.36 and $0.6 per kilo, respectively.

The high tax rates, plus the strong appreciation of the US dollar, have prompted importers to cut the import volumes and try to force the import prices down. Meanwhile, the exchange rate fluctuations have eaten into Vietnamese businesses’ profits.

A report of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) showed that Vietnam exported $1.16 billion in the first nine months of 2015, a 9.3 percent decrease compared with the last year’s same period. The export turnover in the third quarter alone was $74 million only, a sharp fall of 16.9 percent in comparison with the same period last year.

The increasingly high import volume of Vietnam’s catfish in recent years has made 20 percent of US catfish farming establishments suffer. The catfish imports from Vietnam, China and some other countries now account for 75 percent of total sales of the product in the US. 


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