Vietnam was able to export more shrimp to the European Union thanks to their free trade agreement, which entered into force 1 August.
The country’s shrimp exports to the bloc bounced back from July, after declining in every month in the first half of the year. It exported shrimp worth USD 54.2 million (EUR 45.8 million) to the E.U. in July, up 2 percent from the same month in 2019. The sales in the first half of August roared up 26 percent year-on-year to USD 29.4 million (EUR 25 million), Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said in an 8 September statement.
The export value in August was estimated to achieve a year-on-year growth of 20 percent.
As it takes at least three weeks for shipments from Vietnam to arrive in Europe, many exporters from Vietnam shipped their cargoes in July to take advantage of the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), VASEP said.
Under the EVFTA, from 1 August the E.U. removed import tax on raw shrimp HS code 03061100 from Vietnam, which was imposed at a 12.5 percent tariff rate previously. This includes frozen green lobster; frozen HOSO, DP black tiger shrimp; fresh frozen PD shrimp; ice-chilled blue lobster; and slipper lobster (whole, frozen, sawn).
The import duty on shrimp products HS code 03061710, including frozen PD tiger shrimp, frozen HOSO whole shrimp, tiger shrimp shell on, frozen or fresh tiger shrimp, frozen tiger prawn, frozen fresh HLSO tiger shrimp, IQF giant tiger shrimp, frozen meat shrimp, was abolished from its former 20 percent tariff level. The tax on shrimp HS code 03061791, 03061792, 03061793, 03061799 was axed from its previous rate of 12 percent.
The duty on shrimp HS code 03061794 will be eliminated in five years from previous 18 percent and the tax on shrimp HS 16052110 will be abolished in seven years after 1 August, from its current 20 percent tax level, according to VASEP.
The trade group said the preferential taxes will help shrimp from Vietnam become more competitive than other suppliers in the E.U. markets. Shrimp from Thailand, for example, faces a 12 percent import tax, while the generalized system of preferences tariffs for shrimp from India and Indonesia are 4.2 percent, respectively.
Photo courtesy of VASEP
