Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The domestic shrimp industry hasnot faced a great impact from the novel coronavirus-caused acute respiratorydisease (COVID-19) because now this industry is under production and Vietnamwill enter its shrimp harvesting crop in August.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters andProducers (VASEP), many large markets have reduced shrimp imports from Chinadue to the COVID-19 outbreak in this country. That has brought an opportunityfor Vietnamese shrimp enterprises to increase their exports to those markets.

With the current difficulties due to the pandemic, especiallyin China, VASEP said shrimp production, processing and export enterprises havechanged their business plans to expand export markets.

Now, the local businesses focus on improving their competitivenessand producing shrimp for export after the pandemic, said VASEP.

Ho Quoc Luc, Chairman of the Board of Directors and GeneralDirector of the Sao Ta Food Joint Stock Company, said in the long term, Vietnamwill take a lot of advantages from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)to increase shrimp exports to the EU.

The EU is Vietnam's largest shrimp export market, accountingfor 20.5 percent of the total shrimp export value, the association said.

According to the EVFTA, the tariffs of most raw shrimp,including fresh, frozen and chilled products, imported from Vietnam into the EUwill be reduced from the basic rate of 12-20 percent to zero as soon as theagreement comes into effect, expected this year. Meanwhile, import tariffs onprocessed shrimp will fall to zero after seven years.

The reduction of anti-dumping tariffs in the US market tozero would promote growth in Vietnamese shrimp exports to this market. Now, theUS is the second largest export market of Vietnamese shrimp, accounting for 19.4percent of total export value, it said.

Bui Ba Su, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam-AustraliaSeafood Corporation, said farmers should rear shrimp at present to meet higherdemand after the pandemic.

At the same time, the farmers should produce clean shrimp andensure traceability for their product to enjoy preferential tariffs under theEVFTA and increase exports to Europe, he said.

Mai Ngoc Son, Director of Quy Nhon Frozen Joint Stock Companyalso noted that to take advantage of the EVFTA, local businesses must renewtechnology and improve product quality.

Besides that, the Import-Export Department under the Ministryof Industry and Trade noted that Vietnam's shrimp industry will continue toface fierce competition in the world market because more countries haveproduced shrimp so the price will not see strong growth.

Importing countries have more strict requirements on qualityand food safety and those will also affect Vietnam's seafood exports, includingshrimp.

When the EU removes tariffs for Vietnamese exported shrimp tothis market, it would set up non-tariff barriers. Of which, the EU has a newregulation on banning the use of Ethoxyquin in all kinds of aquatic feed fromMarch 31, 2020.

Local enterprises also need to promote attraction of foreigninvestment and join regional supply chains so they could take full advantage ofthe EVFTA, according to the VASEP.

Vietnam has targeted to gain a total export value of 10billion USD from seafood exports this year, including 4-4.2 billion USD from shrimpexports./.