Quang Nam seeks help for purpleback squid export

The central province of Quang Nam is facing a stockpile of purpleback squid which has failed to be exported to China due to a lack of origin certificates.

Quang Nam seeks help for purpleback squid export

According to Ngo Tan, deputy director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Quang Nam to date lacks a company which specialises in buying purpleback squid from local farmers. This means purpleback squid in Quang Nam has been exported to China mostly through border trade and Thailand.

Under China’s newly-issued regulations, goods have to be exported into China officially, not through border trade. This requires the products to have their certificates of origin. Some Vietnamese farm produce such as watermelon also have to conform to this requirement to be exported to China.

“We have asked for a report on the exact number of purpleback squid inventoried and propose the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for trade promotion activities to seek outlets for the product. Farmers also need to be clearly instructed about procedures to export the product to China,” Tan added.

The Quang Nam Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, at present, Quang Nam’s purpleback squid stockpile is roughly 700 tonnes, meaning big losses for local fishermen.

The department said that each tonne of dry purpleback squid are priced at around VND120 million (USD5,217).

The department will work with General Department of Fisheries to build a product quality supervision system and support enterprises in export sales.