Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of 2.76 billion USD in the first 11 months of the year, or 1.4 percent of total export turnover, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the first 8 months of 2017, Vietnam’s tuna exports to France jumped up 94% over the same period last year (from US$915.4 thousand to US$1.77 million). From the 13th rank, France became the 11th biggest buyer of Vietnam tuna in the EU. Exports of frozen tuna (HS code 03) to the market increased sharply over 2016. This was a positive sign for Vietnamese enterprises who wish to expand their importing markets to the EU in 2017.

Aquaculture output in the first 11 months of 2017 totalled more than 3.5 million tonnes, up 8 percent from the same time last year, as estimated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) will join hands with relevant agencies to organise a dialogue between 100 Vietnamese seafood businesses in the Mekong Delta region and the Australia’s Seafood Importers Association (ASIS) to promote seafood shipments to Australia, VFF President Tran Thanh Man has said.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP)’s target of 524 million USD in tuna exports for the year has been completed early as the figure already hit 541 million USD as of November.

Vietnam has become one of the top five exporters of aquatic products in the world thanks to the development of the fisheries sector over the past years.

The revised Fisheries Law was passed by the National Assembly on November 21, 2017, including two chapters on fishing and fishing vessel management. Section 4 in Chapter IV of the Law containing two articles 60 and 61 on illegal fishing, details 14 acts that are considered as illegal fishing and the certification of fishery origin from exploited.

The project - ESTABLISHING A SUSTAINABLE PANGASIUS SUPPLY CHAIN IN VIETNAM (SUPA) - supported 225 pangasius producers, processors, and farms to obtain resource efficiency and sustainable certification which strengthened exports and reduced CO2 emissions by 21 000 tonnes annually

The Fisheries Law (amended) has been passed by National Assembly delegates at the 4th session of the XIV National Assembly. The amended Fisheries Law has new points to facilitate the development of the island marine economy, raise awareness and responsibility in the management of fisheries resources under the international law on IUU fishing (illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing). Related to this issue, the VNA correspondent had a talk with Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development – Mr. Vu Van Tam.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Keeping the good growth from the beginning of the year, Vietnam’s cephalopod exports to Japan in the first 8 months of 2017 reached US$94 million, up 43% over the same period in 2016. The market ranked the second in top cephalopod buyers of Vietnam, occupying 23%.