In 2012, Vietnam earned more than US$182 million from seafood exports to Australia, up 12 percent over the previous year. In which, shrimp represented 60 percent, pangasius 26 percent, mollusk 3.4 percent. So far, Vietnam has 140 exporters to this destination.

As Australia has a transparent trade and tariff policies, especially the zero-percent duty for imported seafood, Vietnam will see many opportunities to bolster trades with the country. However, this is also a demanding market, which has strict requirements on seafood quality, food safety and product design.

Currently, the competitiveness of Vietnamese exporters to Australia is still weak because they do not have long-term strategy to promote products. Media in some foreign markets tried to hinder imports from Vietnam by defusing wrong and confusing information about fish aquaculture and antibiotic residues control in Vietnam. To accelerate seafood exports, Vietnamese companies need to support international importers in fish purchase from Vietnam and foreign media in reporting fisheries activities in Vietnam correctly.

Recently, Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development cooperated with Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) to receive an Australian delegation visiting and working with pangasius and shrimp farming and processing facilities in Mekong Delta. The delegation’s objective is to report liable information on production, processing activities and on the quality of controlling systems. This will help to promote the image and regain prestige of Vietnamese seafood products in Australia.

Norman Grant – Chairman of Seafood Importers of Australia (SIAA) – affirmed, at a press conference, that Vietnamese seafood has good quality and is produced in compliance with international standards. Australia strictly controls and regularly conducts reports on imported seafood products; however, it did not find any problems concerning fish products coming from Vietnam. “Imports of pangasius from Vietnam remained low because freshwater fish are not so popular in Australian market. However, Australia will still be a potential market for Vietnamese fish,“ he said.