Up to 90 percent of the tariff lines levied on this product type will be cut down to zero percent once the EVFTA is signed, excluding canned tuna and fish ball, with the longest roadmap of seven years.
Experts said this is an excellent chance for the seafood sector to reach out to more markets.
Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) Truong Dinh Hoe said the average import tariff on aquatic products exported to the EU is 14 percent, many of which are imposed with higher tariffs, up to 26 percent.
When the EVFTA takes effect, nearly 840 basic tariff lines, making up about 50 percent of the tariff lines for aquatic products, will be reduced to zero percent; the remaining are subject to 3-to-7-year reduction roadmap.
The EU will provide tariff quota for some Vietnamese special products such as canned tuna, 11,500 tonnes, and surimi, 500 tonnes.
The enforcement of the EVFTA will push Vietnam’s aquatic product exports to the EU market, Hoe said.
He added that shrimp exports will be more optimistic because the tariff lines for this product will reduce sharply from the first year of the deal’s enforcement, then gradually go down to zero percent in the next following years.
Vietnam is now the second biggest shrimp exporter, accounting for 14 percent of the global market share after India.
When the EVFTA and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) come into effect, the import duties on raw shrimp material from Vietnam and the export duties on processed shrimp in the EU and CPTPP countries will be cut down.
Meanwhile, India is not a member of the CPTPP and the negotiation of a FTA between India and the EU is temporarily delayed.
This is considered a good opportunity for the Vietnamese shrimp industry to compete with India.
According to the VASEP, with the aim of exporting 4.2 billion USD worth of shrimp in 2019, the US is defined as the key growth market of Vietnam with the export turnover projected at 750 million USD, up 17.6 percent against 2018.
The European demand for shrimp is forecast to continuously grow, especially in the UK and the Netherlands.
This is the foundation for the shrimp sector to realise its goal of increasing its export value to the EU to 1.5 billion USD in 2019.
Experts said the signing of the EVFTA is a good chance for aquatic firms to expand export markets and increase their competitiveness.
Source: VNA
Having identified its weakness in 2023, entering the first quarter of 2024, Vietnam's shrimp industry has undergone a clear change, reflected through increases in exports to major markets.
It is necessary to develop more detailed and consistent regulations on seafood production for export in line with the implementation of solutions towards sustainable and responsible fishing practices.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) After increasing to the highest level in 2022, Canada's tuna imports in 2023 dropped to the lowest level in the past 10 years, reaching 35 thousand tons, down 24% over the year. Canada is currently one of the 15 largest tuna import markets in the world.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Chile, one of the countries participating in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), has tended to increase tuna imports from Vietnam in the past 3 years. According to statistics from Vietnam Customs, this South American country imported nearly 3 million USD of tuna products from Vietnam in the first 2 months of 2024, an increase of 58% over the same period in 2023.
Economic and social development activities, overexploitation, pollution, diseases, and climate change have adversely affected the ecological environment, leading to a severe decline or the extinction of many precious indigenous aquatic species.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The prices of pangasius fingerlings and raw pangasius in ponds fell in March, following steady increases in the first two months of this year.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In February 2024, the average export price of Vietnamese pangasius to markets increased by 4%, although the volume decreased by 40% compared to the previous month.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) There was a 6% decline in Vietnam's pangasius exports to Brazil in February 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, with the total value reaching 6 million USD.
(vasep.com.vn) In the first two months of 2024, Poland—which ranks as Vietnam's fourth-largest EU supplier of tuna—became a noteworthy market. Vietnam's tuna exports value to Poland increased by 786% in comparison to the same period last year, totaling over $2 million USD and contributing about 2% of the country's overall tuna exports revenue.
Regulations on the protection and sustainable development of aquatic resources, Việt Nam's legitimate rights at sea in accordance with international law and the achievements that the country has carved out to remove the European Union’s “yellow card” will be brought closer to local people.
VASEP - HIỆP HỘI CHẾ BIẾN VÀ XUẤT KHẨU THỦY SẢN VIỆT NAM
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Trưởng Ban Biên tập: Bà Phùng Thị Kim Thu
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