Despite recent news that Vietnamese tra catfish will soon return to Russian plates, many tra fish breeders in the Mekong Delta are on the verge of bankruptcy, as exporters are paying nearly VND3,000 less than breeding costs.
Currently, a kilo of tra catfish is sold for between VND14,200 and VND14,500 (US$0.80 and $0.82), but breeding costs are equal to VND 18,000 ($1.01) a kilo. The volume of tra fish bought by processors and exporters from breeders is also in dribs and drabs.
Though the selling price of tra fish is down, farmers are paying higher prices for feed, with bran and oil cake having increased by between 15 percent to 20.
Ngo Phuoc Hau, chairman of Vietnam Freshwater Fish Committee - part of the Vietnam Association Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), blamed the crisis for a large volume of fish bought by businesses in late 2008, which are still in stock.
He said “The fish have not yet been exported since the issue of a ban on the import of Vietnamese tra fish to Russia on December 12, while the number of Vietnamese businesses allowed to resume their exports of tra fish to the Russian market is limited to ten.”
Another reason, Mr. Hau pointed out, is that some large tra fish processors or exporters, including Agifish, VG Food and Vinh Hoan, are breeding fish themselves, so that they can supply produce for their own production.
Agifish can now supply 30 percent of its own needs, VG Food and Vinh Hoan can produce between 60 and 70 percent.
However, no matter how much fish businesses can supply themselves, they cannot meet 100 percent of total demand and need to get the deficiency from breeders.
To protect the farmers’ interests, it is necessary for relevant authorities to take steps to outline policies to protect farmers from being squeezed.
More attention should be paid to an appropriate profit distribution between breeders, processors and exporters, as this will help to eliminate farmers’ practice of speculation in breeding and processors’ equivalent practice in production, leading to poor quality, unstable prices and unhealthy competition.
Prestigious tra exporters suffer disadvantages due to trade promotion fairs
The country’s exports of tra catfish have witnessed a sharp fall of 4.1 percent over the first five months of the year, compared with the same period last year, with total exports of US$477 million.
The ongoing global financial crisis has forced exporters to seek new markets, resulting in a rise in the number of countries importing Vietnamese tra fish from 89 to 107.
Despite such an increase, obstacles including the US’ adoption of a new farming bill and media allegations in countries such as Italy, Spain, Norway, Egypt and, recently, in New Zealand that Vietnamese tra fish is unsafe have now affected potential export markets.
Many tra fish exporters, however, trust that such obstacles can be overcome if Vietnam can seek solutions for its intrinsic problems related to quality, tracing produce origin and unhealthy competition between exporters.
An example is the Vietfish Fair. Organized annually, the fair attracts a large number of foreign importers who research prices and seek new products. It is considered one of most practical trade promotion activities of the year.
Le Viet Tien, director of Van Duc, a prestigious food product export company, however, said that the fair will do more harm than good if relevant authorities do not have policies to eliminate unhealthy competition, leading to disadvantages for entrepreneurs that do business in a decent way.”
Mr. Tien said, “They let exporters wishing to do business in a dishonest way for quick profits take part in the fair. Such exporters are ready to offer lower prices for their products to make them more competitive to ours, leading to unhealthy competition."
“It’s a real harm to us prestigious exporters, as it costs us a lot of money, time and effort to acquire certifications related to quality and codes, which allow us to export our products to hard-to please markets like Europe, “ he added.
Mr. Tien emphasized that if such a practice continues, it will lead to more anti-dumping lawsuits against Vietnamese tra fish.
To protects prestigious exporters’ interests, Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong Minh, former deputy Minister of Fisheries, said that Vietnam can adopt policies that are applied in many countries, which stipulate that no one is only allowed to export products or goods of a certain trade unless they are a member of the trade.
