(vasep.com.vn) In 2012, Vietnam’s shrimp exports to Japan reached over US$617.7 million, up 1.7 percent from 2011. Japan’s decision to test Ethoxyquin residue on 100 percent of shrimp consignments originated from Vietnam with maximum residue limit (MRL) of 0.01 ppm (10ppb) has negatively affected to Vietnam shrimp exporters to the market because MRL of 0.01 ppm is too low and unfair to Vietnam’s shrimp exporters.
Shrimp exports to Japan declined after strong growth of 23 – 52.5 percent in 5 months. In Jul 2012, shrimp shipments to Japan dropped by 1.4 percent over that of the same month of 2011. The figure was 16.6 percent in Aug; -9.2 percent in Sep; -15.8 percent in Oct; -5.3 percent in Nov; -26.9 percent in Dec. 
Many shrimp processors stopped purchasing raw shrimp farmed under industrial model on a fear of Ethoxyquin contamination. Some packers stop to export shrimp to Japan. Others which tried to remain exporting to the market must purchase extensively farmed shrimp for processing or spend a lot of money on testing raw shrimp before processing. However, the supply of extensively raw farmed shrimp can not meet processors’ demand for raw material. Besides, costs for shrimp testing exposed hardship in capital for exporters and slashed sharply their profit.
Shortage of raw material and Japan’s requirement of Ethoxyquin test pushed Vietnam shrimp price up and reduced its competitiveness in Japan market.
Another problem is that Japan’s technical barriers forced exporters to switch to export to other markets where Vietnam shrimp exporters must suffer from high pressures on price with other suppliers.
Japan accounted for 27.6 percent of Vietnam’s total shrimp export value. If the Ethoxyquin problem won’t be solved, while supply is limited due to early mortality syndrome (EMS), shrimp exports to the market in 2013 is expected to further sink.
.bmp)