With the new move, Vietnam has a total of 19 basa fish plants that are allowed to export to US

The National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) noted that the factories must comply with the provisions of Decision No.1802/QD-BNN-QLCL dated 2020 and instructions in Official Letter No.803/QLCL-CL1 dated 2020 to ensure that the entire basa fish production, processing, and export chain fully meets the regulations of both Vietnam and the US.

Decision 1802 of the MARD presents a food safety control programme for Siluriformes fish and fish products exported to US market, helping Vietnam’s Siluriformes inspection system meet the requirements of the US.

In the first four months of this year, Vietnam’s basa export value surpassed $950 million, up 94 per cent on-year, in which, the two leading markets of China and the US, mirrored a sharp growth.

Basa exports to China touched $306 million, showing a 161 per cent jump and accounting for 32 per cent of the total export turnover of this item; exports to the US exceeded $232 million, up 128 per cent, holding a proportion of 24.5 per cent.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Vietnam’s export items to the US market, including shrimp, basa, and other key commodities, all eyed high export growth compared to the previous year, especially regarding basa.

The US catfish production has been decreasing, coupled with high inflation and anti-dumping tax application that has benefited legitimate basa export enterprises. In addition, the number of Vietnamese basa processing plants allowed to export to the US has increased, along with a spike in average export price to the US market during the period.

Those main factors have made basa exports to the US in the first four months of this year increase dramatically, with $232 million, up 128 per cent on-year.

VASEP forecast that the demand for seafood products in the US and EU markets will continue to recover as supply in these markets is below the demand. In addition, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine makes the global seafood supply more unstable, especially regarding white-meat fish products.

Therefore, six more plants allowed to export basa to the US would be instrumental to bolster Vietnam's exports to this market in the forthcoming time.