Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Although Canada is a majorproducer of seafood, it still imports a variety of aquatic products from Vietnam,especially black tiger shrimps.

According to Vietnam’s General Department of Customs, last year, Vietnam’sseafood export turnover to Canada reached more than 183 million USD. This wasthe highest figure for agricultural products exported to the Canadian market.

In the first 10 months of this year, seafood exports to Canada have leaptsignificantly. Turnover so far is more than 186 million USD.

Nguyen Nhu Tiep, director of the National Agro-ForestryFisheries Quality Assurance Department (NAFIQAD), said Canada had one of thestrictest import regulations for farm products, especially seafood.

However, as it is a high value market, learning to complywith the system gives Vietnam an advantage when selling to other countries.

In terms of seafood, Tiep said Vietnamese shrimp productshad the biggest sales opportunity in Canada because demand was quite large.

The standard of many shrimp raising and processingenterprises in Vietnam now meets the requirements of Canada. However, the sameis not true for farming in general.

In particular, Canada has shifted to management from the bottomup. Therefore, not only processing enterprises must be inspected, but also rawmaterial areas must be assessed by Canadian authorities visiting Vietnam toapprove export licences.

To promote Vietnam shrimp exports, Canada recently backed a 15million USD technical assistance project to help businesses and farmers controlfood safety.

Nguyen Duc Hoa, Vietnamese Ambassador to Canada, said Canadais a country with favourable natural conditions for agriculture and the world’sleading agricultural technology. Therefore, there is optimism that Vietnamesebusinesses will soon be allowed to directly invest in Canada’s agriculturalproduction.

At present, a number of Vietnamese enterprises are visitingCanada to lease agricultural land. In addition, Canadian firms are interestedin Vietnam’s agriculture, including its adaptation to climate change.

The biggest problem with the Canadian market is thatinformation and two-way understanding between Vietnamese and Canadian companiesis still limited, according to Hoa.

Hoa suggested the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment should organise trips for delegations from Vietnam to meet Canadianenterprises to seek specific cooperation opportunities.-VNA