(seafood.vasep.com.vn) After a period of positive growth in the second quarter of 2023, Vietnam's tuna exports to Lithuania decreased in the last months of the year. In October 2023 alone, tuna exports Lithuania decreased by 80% compared to the same period in 2022
With this decrease, cumulatively in the first 10 months of 2023, tuna exports to Lithuania still decreased by 30% over the same period, reaching nearly 11 million USD. In particular, sales of frozen tuna meat/loin with HS code 0304 continues to decrease by 33%, meanwhile those of canned tuna products tend to increase sharply by 195% over the same period.
Currently, Vietnam is the second-largest tuna supplier for Lithuania after Ghana. There are 566 Vietnamese enterprises allowed to export seafood to the EU, including Lithuania. Like other markets in EU, tuna exports to Lithuania are also being affected by the IUU yellow card.
Although Lithuania is a member in the European Union (EU), agricultural cooperation with Vietnam in recent times has been quiet. Statistics from Vietnam Customs show that, although import-export turnover between Vietnam and Lithuania has increased more than four times, from 56 million USD in 2015 to 233 million USD in 2022, agricultural trade is still quite limited. Exports from Vietnam to Lithuania are mainly seafood, pepper, rubber, and cashew nuts via sea, in small quantities.
Therefore, during a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania in October 2023, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Quoc Tri proposed that the two sides focus on exchanging and promoting trade in goods. Agricultural products have strengths and complement each other, including seafood from Vietnam.