Illustrative image (Source: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – Tra fish exportsto the European Union (EU) have recovered following incorrect news published byoverseas media, said General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of SeafoodExporters and Processors (VASEP) Truong Dinh Hoe.
According to VASEP, the EU has been animportant importer of Vietnamese tra fish over the past two decades, rankingfirst from 2004 – 2014.
In 2008, tra fish became popular in France,Spain and Italy thanks to its low price compared to other indigenouswhite-flesh fishes.
However since 2015, Vietnam’s tra fishexports have declined, ranking third behind China and the US. In the earlymonths this year, the country even placed behind ASEAN.
Due to the great early success of tra fishin the EU, media outlets in the region painted a distorted picture to smear anddefame it, which has hurt consumption and demand.
In early 2017, the Spanish media publisheddistorted allegations about Vietnamese tra fish farming, processing andconsumption. Later, many Spanish supermarkets stopped selling tra fish, drivingdown export revenue.
Several Romanian newspapers publishedincorrect information about Vietnamese tra fish, even warning people not to eatit in restaurants and suggesting a boycott of tra fish and restaurants offeringit.
Following accusations about tra fish’simpact on health, the Netherlands’s Wageningen University conducted a study todetermine the safety of eating tra fish and concluded that there was noevidence to support the accusations.
Prof. Simon Bush, an expert on environmentpolicy research from the university, described such accusations as ungrounded,affirming that tra fish has a very limited food safety risk and environmentalimpact.
Tra fish being fairly new in the EU andquickly grabbing a large market share may have led to the attacks, he said.
Hoe said VASEP signed a contract withGlobally Cool company to launch a tra fish marketing campaign in Spain fromMarch – December 2017. It also launched the website //youreverydayfish.com,a multilingual platform to introduce Vietnamese tra fish and respond to falseand negative information in English, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutchlanguages.
Some domestic firms aim to boost exports bydeveloping new products, increasing premium and added-value products andimproving quality. Since late 2017, limited supply of tra fish has also pushedprices up considerably.
Several kinds of white-flesh fish have hadpoor harvests in recent months so tra fish has been chosen as an alternativeproduct, he added.
Statistics from the General Department ofCustoms showed tra fish exports to the EU surpassed 139 million USD in thefirst seven months of this year, up 16.5 percent annually. Several marketsposted strong growth such as the Netherlands (43 percent) and Italy (83percent).
The EU is now the third largest importer ofVietnamese tra fish, accounting for an 11.6 percent market share, behind Chinaand the US.
Experts suggested that the sector strengthenmarketing overseas and tra fish exports as a premium and added-value product toachieve sustainable growth.-VNA
According to VASEP, the EU has been animportant importer of Vietnamese tra fish over the past two decades, rankingfirst from 2004 – 2014.
In 2008, tra fish became popular in France,Spain and Italy thanks to its low price compared to other indigenouswhite-flesh fishes.
However since 2015, Vietnam’s tra fishexports have declined, ranking third behind China and the US. In the earlymonths this year, the country even placed behind ASEAN.
Due to the great early success of tra fishin the EU, media outlets in the region painted a distorted picture to smear anddefame it, which has hurt consumption and demand.
In early 2017, the Spanish media publisheddistorted allegations about Vietnamese tra fish farming, processing andconsumption. Later, many Spanish supermarkets stopped selling tra fish, drivingdown export revenue.
Several Romanian newspapers publishedincorrect information about Vietnamese tra fish, even warning people not to eatit in restaurants and suggesting a boycott of tra fish and restaurants offeringit.
Following accusations about tra fish’simpact on health, the Netherlands’s Wageningen University conducted a study todetermine the safety of eating tra fish and concluded that there was noevidence to support the accusations.
Prof. Simon Bush, an expert on environmentpolicy research from the university, described such accusations as ungrounded,affirming that tra fish has a very limited food safety risk and environmentalimpact.
Tra fish being fairly new in the EU andquickly grabbing a large market share may have led to the attacks, he said.
Hoe said VASEP signed a contract withGlobally Cool company to launch a tra fish marketing campaign in Spain fromMarch – December 2017. It also launched the website //youreverydayfish.com,a multilingual platform to introduce Vietnamese tra fish and respond to falseand negative information in English, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutchlanguages.
Some domestic firms aim to boost exports bydeveloping new products, increasing premium and added-value products andimproving quality. Since late 2017, limited supply of tra fish has also pushedprices up considerably.
Several kinds of white-flesh fish have hadpoor harvests in recent months so tra fish has been chosen as an alternativeproduct, he added.
Statistics from the General Department ofCustoms showed tra fish exports to the EU surpassed 139 million USD in thefirst seven months of this year, up 16.5 percent annually. Several marketsposted strong growth such as the Netherlands (43 percent) and Italy (83percent).
The EU is now the third largest importer ofVietnamese tra fish, accounting for an 11.6 percent market share, behind Chinaand the US.
Experts suggested that the sector strengthenmarketing overseas and tra fish exports as a premium and added-value product toachieve sustainable growth.-VNA
VNA
