Seminar discusses ASEAN Shrimp Standards
ASEAN shrimp producers are desperate for a common set of standards for shrimp aquaculture, as are global customers, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) Nguyen Huu Dung has said.
Dung was speaking at a seminar held in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on February 26 by VASEP, the Vietnam Fisheries Society and the ASEAN-US Maximising Agricultural Revenue through Knowledge, Enterprise Development and Trade (ASEAN-US MARKET) project, funded by the US Agency for International Development.
He said ASEAN nations are supplying 80 % of the global shrimp output, and they have to follow various standards set by importing countries.
Therefore they have collectively agreed to build a common set of standards for shrimp, which will be in line with popular international requirements, he added.
The ASEAN Shrimp Standards are expected to be enforced by 2015, when the ASEAN Economic Community is formed.
At the seminar, Corey Peet, an expert from the ASEAN-US MARKET project, presented the goals, scope and the development of a draft for the ASEAN Shrimp Standards, along with support for farmers to follow the requirements.