Fish exports insignificantly affected by U.S.s new rule

CAN THO - The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the United States has announced to inspect all shipments of tra fish from Vietnam under a mandatory inspection program starting from August 2, one month earlier than planned. However, the new rule has not left significant impact on Vietnam’s tra exports to America.

According to FSIS’s new regulation, all Vietnamese tra shipments entering U.S. soil must be presented at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s official import inspection establishments (i-houses) for its personnel to check quality, safety, packaging and others.

When FSIS made this announcement, Vietnamese fish exporters expressed concern that there would not be enough i-houses in the U.S. for inspecting a great volume of fish entering America at the same time.

A leader of Vinh Hoan Corporation, a leading fish exporter in Vietnam, said USDA’s i-houses might be overwhelmed, leading to long queues. This is a big problem as the U.S. will not complete its cold storage system until 2018. 

However, speaking to the Daily, chairman of Hung Vuong Corporation Duong Ngoc Minh said Vietnamese fish exports to the U.S. have not been significantly affected since FSIS’s new regulation came into force a week ago.

According to Minh, FSIS’s decision to enforce the new inspection regulation one month earlier than planned is aimed at better preparing for the change.

Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said up to now, the association has not received any complaints from exporters.

Hoe said Vietnam’s tra fish exports to the U.S. were previously managed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and that 10-30% of the shipments were inspected by FDA depending on exporters.

Data of VASEP shows that the country’s tra fish exports in the first half of 2017 totaled US$836 million, down 0.3% compared to the same period last year. Of this figure, exports to the U.S. accounted for US$176.4 million, a 5.7% year-on-year decline.

According to VASEP, the fall in first half fish exports to the U.S. resulted from high anti-dumping tariffs rather than FSIS’s new regulation.

There are currently 14 eligible firms exporting tra fish to the U.S. but only three of them – Hung Vuong, Vinh Hoan and Bien Dong – frequently export the fish to this market.