According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare last month announced to raise allowable ethoxyquin residue, an antibiotic substance used in feed production, in Vietnamese shrimps from 0.01 to 0.2 milligram per kilo.
In addition, Japan has also removed the regulation of ethoxiquin check on all shrimp shipments from Vietnam. This is an opportunity for Vietnamese firms to increase shrimp exports to Japan, said a VASEP leader.
Data of the General Statistics Office (GSO) showed that Vietnam’s seafood exports to Japan with shrimp being the key product hit over 108,000 tons worth US$1.1 billion in 2013, up nearly 3% against the previous year.
In addition, shrimp exports to the U.S. and the European Union (EU) have bounced back strongly in recent months. In the Jan-Sept period in 2013, shrimp exports to the U.S and EU reached US$543 million and US$264 million, up 63% and 15% year-on-year respectively.
Given the positive signs, VASEP expects the nation’s shrimp export value at US$3.5 billion this year. In 2013, shrimp exports generated over US$3 billion.
However, VASEP Chairman Tran Thien Hai said that the success largely depends on enterprises’ control over impurity injection problem. Exporters should also take advantage to boost exports while Thailand, China and Malaysia are facing shrimp diseases.
Sau Ngoan, a farmer in Bac Lieu Province, said that shrimp breeders earned VND100,000-120,000 per kilo of shrimp sold last year. Therefore, many households have rushed to continue farming despite warnings of disease outbreaks.
According to Tra Vinh Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, local farmers have begun shrimp farming on over 500 hectares in Duyen Hai and Cau Ngang districts. However, diseases have hit around 25% of the area, or around 125 hectares.
