Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam needs to strengthen measures to achievethe sustainable development of seafood exports to the EU market, especiallyafter the EVFTA comes into effect, according to experts.

The country gained 183.4 million USD in seafood export value to the EU in twomonths after the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) came into force, saidPhan Thi Thu Hien, lecturer and expert on EU market from the Foreign TradeUniversity.

“The EUTR1 certificate of origin (C/O) applications of exported seafoodaccounted for nearly 80 percent of total C/O applications, ranking second inthe top export commodities,” Hien said.

Vietnamese exporters have had good compliance with the rules of origin to utilisethe EVFTA, she said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has also supportedVietnamese firms in complying and successfully applying the preferential EUTR1C/O, including introduction and communications about the EVFTA and its rules oforigin, training and consultancy, help desks, and manual and e-guidancepublications.

The EU is one of the biggest export markets of Vietnam’s fish and fish productswith a value of 1.3 billion USD in 2019, accounting for 15.1 percent of thetotal seafood export value of Vietnam.

However, Vietnam’s seafood products exported to the EU are mainlysemi-processed products, according to the Vietnam Institute of Economics andFisheries Planning.

In addition, the EU is a large market with many import orders while Vietnam hasnot developed production and processing chains so it has missed many chances ofexporting seafood to the EU.

To have efficient and sustainable seafood exports to the EU, the Government andcompetent authorities need to have training programmes and public-private dialoguesabout IUU and the EVFTA, Hien said.

They need to modernise and standardise documentation and fishery statistics,she said. They should also apply information technology (IT)-driven riskmanagement and control and develop IT infrastructure, applications andplatforms.

For local farmers and export processing firms, she said, they should know aboutfundamental principles of the EU’s IUU regulations, preventing violations.Those could ensure efficient seafood exports to the EU market.

They should also actively participate in training courses about IUU and theEVFTA.

Bach Van Hanh from the Directorate of Fisheries under the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development (MARD) said the directorate has enhancedcontrol for imported raw materials of seafood to meet requirements on productorigin.

It has improved existing processes to ensure traceability in processing plantsand monitor certified materials for processing in factories, he said.

Besides that, Vietnam should solve problems relating to residue levels ofbanned substances in export seafood products, said Dao Trong Hieu from theMARD’s Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development Department.

It needs to complete standards and regulations for Vietnam's seafood products,meeting the EU market regulations, he said.

Vietnam should also take full tax incentives from the EVFTA to promote seafoodexports to the EU.

If Vietnam removes the yellow card warning about implementing the IUUregulations and take full tariff incentives under the EVFTA, its seafoodexports to the EU in the next five years are expected to reach between 1.2-1.5billion USD each year, Hieu said./.