Trade barriers sink fish and seafood exports

In the early months of the year, fish and seafood exports have dipped 23.5% over last year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and market access issues urgently need to be addressed.

“Perishable products like fish and shrimp have been hard hit by the strong rise in the value of the US dollar against the euro and yen as it caused their value to drop markedly in the US and Japanese markets,” VASEP said.

Though the strong dollar hasn’t directly impacted the volume of the exports it definitely has decreased the overall value in the US, EU and Japan (the three largest markets) and reduced the bottom line.

Fish and seafood businesses have also had failure this season gaining access to a number of foreign markets and the lack thereof has caused the overall volume of shipments into these regions to tumble.

VASEP said the US has imposed preliminary anti-dumping duties on pangasius fish imports while it conducts a complete review and the industry will continue to suffer over the next 12 months if this barrier is not adequately resolved.

The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) agreed that non-tariff barriers remained a significant issue noting that China has set stricter rules for the quality of rice imports, creating yet another hurdle for businesses to jump over.

Even though China has been the biggest rice importer over recent years, exports of rice would be higher if the obstacles were removed.

The VFA said these NTBs force businesses in the rice industry to incur substantial costs due to delays, complex documentation requirements and the unpredictable quality standards and procedures at border crossings.

Transporting rice to African nations can be tedious, time-consuming and expensive so countries such as India and Pakistan have an advantage in these markets thanks to their closer proximity and lower transportation costs, the VFA underscored.

Vietnam’s economic viability in these and similarly situated markets and ability to compete internationally on an equal footing far beyond our national borders depend on removing these roadblocks and liberalising commerce.

The VFA stressed the key barrier to trade in agriculture remains the lack of sufficient investment in modern state-of-the-art technologies to improve rice quality and varieties in all phases of production and training for workers.

In pretty much most markets around the globe, those exporting agricultural products have run up against non-tariff barriers that are throwing up barricades to trade that haven’t been adequately addressed by free trade agreements.

Free trade agreements primarily address tariff issues whereas non-tariff barriers need to be addressed through investing and enhancing government-to-government relationships.