With the socio-economic development, the demand for seafood products is increasing, as well as the strict requirements for product quality also increase over time. In particular, the issue of "traceability" has become a mandatory requirement for most seafood products in domestic and international markets. To help small-scale producers step by step enter the market and integrate into the international economy, is the common objective not only of ICAFIS (Vietnam Fisheries Association) but also the whole industry.
In Vietnam, two species of brackish water shrimp, including tiger shrimp (P. monodon) and white leg shrimp (L. vannamei) are the main species for export aquaculture. In the past two decades, implementing the Government's Resolution 09/2000/NQ-CP dated on June 15, 2000 on a number of policies for economic restructuring and agricultural product consumption, the explosion of the world seafood export market and especially with the success in the technology of artificial shrimp breeds production, the brackish water shrimp farming of Vietnam has achieved strong growth in both area and quantity, contributing to significantly on the development of Vietnam's fisheries sector as well as the entire economy of the country. It can be said that, over the past 20 years, the development of brackish shrimp farming in Vietnam has contributed to a strong transformation in the structure of agriculture and rural areas, creating more jobs for farmers and fishermen in coastal provinces, providing a large source of raw materials for processing and exporting activities.
Overview of Vietnam's shrimp production achievements
According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers statistics in 2019, Vietnamese shrimp were exported to 102 markets, reaching 3.36 billion USD. A list of Vietnam's 10 major shrimp import markets/blocks, including: EU, USA, Japan, China, Korea, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, ASEAN, Switzerland, accounting for 96.7% of total shrimp export value of Vietnam. The EU is Vietnam's largest import market for shrimp, accounting for 20.5% of the total shrimp export value of Vietnam. In 2019, Vietnam's shrimp exports to the EU market reached 689.8 million USD. white leg shrimp is the main product exported to the EU, accounting for 79.9% of the total Vietnamese shrimp products exported to the EU (tiger shrimp accounts for 12.2%, while the rest are marine shrimp products).
The US is second rank in importing Vietnamese shrimp, accounting for 19.4% of the total shrimp export value of Vietnam. In 2019, Vietnam's shrimp exports to the US market reached 653.9 million USD. In 2019, the US imported from Vietnam US $ 550.4 million white leg shrimp. White leg shrimp also accounted for the largest proportion in the total structure of Vietnamese shrimp products exported to the US with 84.2% (tiger shrimp only accounted for 12.2% and marine shrimp 3.6%). In 2019, the US increased imports of white shrimp from Vietnam with an increase of 7.6% compared to 2018. Among Vietnamese shrimp products exported to the US, exports of raw/fresh/frozen white leg shrimp ( HS03) had the strongest increase (39.2%) to 204.3 million USD. In particular, the demand for shrimp imports from Vietnam in the end of 2019 is more positive trend (because the US tends to reduce imports from India and Thailand and sharply reduce imports from China).
In 2019, Vietnam's shrimp exports to Japan reached USD 618.6 million. In the structure of shrimp exported to Japan, white leg shrimp accounted for 58%, tiger shrimp 23.4% and marine shrimp 18.5%. The Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA) has helped maintain stable export value of Vietnamese shrimp to this market. In 2019, Japan's imports of shrimp reached 2.3 billion USD. Vietnam remains the largest shrimp supplier to Japan, accounting for 26% of Japan's total shrimp imported value.
China is the best positive growth market among the 06 main shrimp import markets of Vietnam. In 2019, Vietnam's shrimp exports to China reached 542.9 million USD (an increase of 10.3% compared to 2018). China is the largest black tiger shrimp import market of Vietnam, accounting for 32.4% of total black tiger shrimp export value of Vietnam. Although black tiger shrimp exports to China decreased, this product still accounts for a large proportion (41%) in shrimp products exported to this market (white leg shrimp accounts for over 50.6%; the rest 8.4 % is marine shrimp). Vietnam shrimp exports to South Korea in 2019 reached 337.5 million USD. In 2019, white leg shrimp accounted for 83.8% of the total shrimp export structure of Vietnam to South Korea (tiger shrimp only accounted for 4.3%; the remaining sea shrimp was 11.9%). Korea continues to be considered an important market for Vietnamese shrimp, especially when Vietnam shrimp has advantages from FTAs signed with Korea.
Issue on traceability of aquatic products
Besides all these achievements, the Vietnam shrimp industry is facing many challenges. In which, the issue on traceability of aquatic products is a mandatory requirement of importing countries and certification systems VietGAP, ASC, BAP, GlobalGAP, etc. Especially, the requirements are strict improvement in the context of international economic integration. However, Vietnamese farmers and fishermen are typically limited in their ability to apply technology.
Under the project on Gender Transformative & Responsible Business Investment in South East Asia - GRAISEA 2 by the International Collaborating Centre for Aquaculture and Fisheries Sustainability (ICAFIS) and the OXFAM Vietnam operates in Soc Trang and Bac Lieu provinces. ICAFIS Center has cooperated with Tep Bac Co., Ltd. to develop and apply the test of Shrimp Farming Online Journal with the objectives: promoting the capacity for small-scale shrimp farmers to apply advanced technologies in production and market access, to help shrimp farmers step by step participate in international economic integration. Subjects of application will be shrimp farmers in Soc Trang and Bac Lieu provinces. From August 2020 to August 2021 is the planned trial duration. ICAFIS expects that after the trial use of online journal, small-scale shrimp farmers will improve their capacity and skills in applying information technology solutions to production. This would lead to increasing the possibilities for market access in the international economic integration process.
Le Mai (theo tongcucthuysan.gov.vn)