Authorities should discuss and select standards for Vietnamese pangasius to facilitate export activity... Vietnamese pangasius producers now have to comply with multiple sets of standards, including ASC, GlobalGap (Good Agriculture Practice) and BAP (Best Aquaculture Practice).
Duong Ngoc Minh, chairman of the Freshwater Fish Committee under the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), shared this view at a ceremony to announce the local pangasius industry had met Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) standards. The event was organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the General Directorate of Fisheries on Wednesday.
Vietnamese pangasius producers now have to comply with multiple sets of standards, including ASC, GlobalGap (Good Agriculture Practice) and BAP (Best Aquaculture Practice).
To lift the standard burden on pangasius, VASEP, the General Directorate of Fisheries and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should select a number of sets of standards and promote them in the major pangasius importing markets of Vietnam like the U.S. and Europe. Then, the standards chosen by most consumers should be widely applied by pangasius traders and farmers, instead of applying different standards for different markets as now, said Minh.
Over the past ten years, Vietnam’s pangasius material output has sharply risen from tens of thousands of tons to over one million tons per year. Enterprises have focused on selling but have ignored the standards for pangasius that foreign consumers require, he said.
Every year, the State spends heavily to help local seafood firms participate in seafood fairs in Europe and the U.S., but there has been no plan for building the Vietnamese pangasius brand, he remarked.
Therefore, foreign countries can stop importing Vietnamese pangasius when it fails to meet the standard on food safety or other standards.
“We have no room to maneuver, so we are forced to apply GlobalGap in the European market, BAP in the U.S. and recently ASC in some European nations,” said Minh.
To produce pangasius meeting ASC standard, each hectare must be invested some VND50 million, or each kilo will cost an additional VND5, while prices of ASC-qualified pangasius are often 20-30 U.S. cents per kilo higher than the normal level.
At present, GlobalGap and ASC are both accepted in Europe, but ASC is preferred, said Minh.