Vietnam has gained more value from exports of pangasius to the European Union, with its proposed free trade agreement expected to further drive up the sales.
According to Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), exports of pangasius from Vietnam to E.U. were worth USD 105.2 million (EUR 92.3 million) from 1 January to 15 May this year, up 31.5 percent from 2018.
Rising demand from a number of single markets in the bloc has helped push the sales. The export value in the period increased in all four major single markets in the E.U., with 63.8 percent in Belgium, 61.6 percent in Germany, 59.8 percent in the United Kingdom, and 12.2 percent in the Netherlands, VASEP said.
The average export price for pangasius in the E.U. in the first quarter of this year ranged from USD 2.93 to USD 3.55 (EUR 2.57-EUR 3.11) per kilogram, higher than USD 2.8-USD 3.5 (EUR 2.46-EUR 3.07) per kilogram in 2018.
Vietnam also hopes to sharply increase exports of pangasius to the E.U. after its proposed free trade agreement is finalized.
The E.U.-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is expected to be signed either later June or in early July of this year, Vietnamese Zing News reported last week, citing Ambassador Bruno Angelet, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam.
The European Commission agreed to submit the pact to the European Council for consideration on 17 October last year.
Once the deal comes into effect, seafood exporters from the Southeast Asian nation will have “huge opportunities” to speed up exports to the E.U., the Directorate of Fisheries of Vietnam said in a public announcement. About half of the import taxes on seafood products from Vietnam to the E.U. will be removed immediately after the agreement comes into effect, with the remainder eliminated within seven years from the effective date of the pact. The E.U., however, will give Vietnam annual quotas for duty-free imports of 11,500 metric tons (MT) of canned tuna and 500 MT of canned fish balls.
Additional volumes beyond the quotas will be taxed, according to reports from the directorate and the Vietnamese Finance Ministry’s National Institute for Finance.
