South Korea inspectors to visit Vietnam fishery

<p style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 6pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; text-align: justify; "><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt">KFDA will inspect some plants out of 28 dried seasoned leather jacket exporters of Vietnam to South Korea. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt">Dried seasoned leather jacket is one of traditional seafood products consumed in South Korean market. Some seafood products such as shrimp, cephalopods, bivalve mollusk, particularly products processed from crab, mackerel are also loved by South Korean market.</span></p> <p style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 6pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; text-align: justify; "><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt">Statistics of International Trade Center (ITC) indicated that processed and dried seafood imports of South Korea from suppliers in the world has been increasing for 3 recent years. Vietnam is the second largest exporter of processed seafood to South Korean market. Seafood products exported to South Korea are diversified with good quality, however Vietnam exporters still have to face difficulties in penetrating into the market, particularly have to fiercely compete with Chinese processed seafood with cheaper price and Thailand seafood products with more attractive models.</span></p> <p style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 6pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; text-align: justify; "><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt">Total processed seafood import value into South Korea in 2011 reached US$594 million, increasing against that of 2010 (US$425 million). China is the leading processed seafood exporter to South Korea with US$145.5 million, followed by Vietnam with US$90.2 million, then Thailand with US$82.7 million. Peru ranked the fourth but the country is subject to the highest tariff of 26.23 percent against that of the above markets. In 3 recent years, processed seafood export volume from China, Vietnam, Thailand to South Korea has been rising.</span></p> <p style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 6pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; text-align: justify; "><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt">While various dried finfish import value into South Korea from international origins last year only attained US$68.95 million, up modestly over US$65.49 million of 2010. The leading exporter of dried finfish into South Korea is Russia with the export value of US$42.83 million, followed by China with US$12.07 million.</span></p> <p style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 6pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; text-align: justify; "><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt">Vietnam ranked the third among dried finfish exporters in the world to South Korea with US$5.95 million of export value. However, dried finfish imports into South Korea from China and Vietnam fell over 2010 in which imports from Vietnam sank more than a half.</span></p> <p style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 6pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; text-align: justify; "><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt">The decrease was not attributable to low demand from South Korea. It was partly due to lower import price into South Korea against that of other destinations and South Korea&rsquo;s strict requirements in quality of products.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 6pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; text-align: justify; ">&nbsp;</p>