(vasep.com.vn) With some trade agreements signed with Japan and Korea such as Japan-Vietnam Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA), Vietnam-Korea Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA), ASEAN Japan Comprehension Economic Partnership (AJCEP), and ASEAN Korea Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA), Vietnamese products sent to these two countries are going to benefit from a reduction or a future exemption of import taxes. However, Vietnamese export companies also need to find measures to overcome Japanese and Korean non-tariff barriers imposed on imported agricultural and seafood items.

(vasep.com.vn) Vietnam is on the process of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiation with the Customs Union of Russia - Belarus – Kazakhstan. Negotiations finished in this year are expected to enable Vietnam exporters to penetrate the lucrative market, the Vietnamese embassy’s trade counselor Pham Quang Niem said.

(IntraFish) Eight months after the US and European Union signed a landmark bill to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, WWF is urgently calling on EU and US leaders for stronger action to end unfair fishing practices and to fight trade in illegal fish products.

(vasep.com.vn) On January 21st 2014, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan (MHLW) issued official announcement on increasing maximum residue limits (MRL) of Ethoxyquin (an anti-oxidant substance used in shrimp feed production) on Vietnam shrimp imported into the market. The new MRL is 0.2 ppm, 20-fold increase from the current level of 0.01ppm. Moreover, Japan decided to lift the regulation of 100 percent Ethoxyquin testing on Vietnam’s shrimp imported into the market.

(VNS) The seafood industry should soon work with trade authorities to remove raw seafood for processing from the list of goods requiring an automatic import licence, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien has said.

(vasep.com.vn) In 2014, Godaco Seafood Joint Stock Company (Godaco) targets to earn US$80 million from seafood exports as its new seafood processing plant put into operation, said Mr. Le Son Tung, Vice Director of the company.

Many fishers in Tam Quan Bac commune

(pangasius-vietnam.com) Out of EU, Germany was the third largest importer of Vietnam pangasius. From the beginning of 2013 until the mid December 2013, pangasius exports to Germany valued at US$43.52 million, representing a year-on-year fall of 19.1 percent, the deepest dive out of EU’s 4 leading importers of Vietnam pangasius (Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and the U.K)

(SeafoodSource) There is a great opportunity for seafood sandwich sales at restaurants, as consumers say they are eating more of them — and seeking healthier options.

(vasep.com.vn) In 2013, shrimp farming area hit by EMS has reduced remarkably from the previous year thanks to biofloc technology applied by farmers in some central and Mekong Delta provinces.