Vietnam's Spiny Lobster Unable to Export: China Speaks Out

On November 27, the Ministry of Industry and Trade chaired and coordinated with domestic ministries, branches, localities and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce to organize the 12th meeting of the Vietnam - China Economic and Trade Cooperation Committee.

At the meeting, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien proposed that the Chinese Ministry of Commerce support Vietnamese enterprises in building brands in the Chinese market; speed up the process of opening the market for agricultural products; promote the signing of a framework agreement on rice trade between Vietnam and China...

Regarding the problem of exporting spiny lobster from Vietnam to China, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien suggested that Chinese authorities give spiny lobsters a transition period when imported into China so that businesses can adapt to new regulations from this market.

Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao pointed out that Vietnamese enterprises need to urgently register their production and packaging facilities with Chinese Customs. At the same time, the competent authorities of the two countries need to promptly carry out inspections and assessments of enterprises and growing areas in person or online so that spiny lobsters can be exported to China.

Vụ tôm hùm bông Việt Nam không xuất khẩu được: Trung Quốc lên tiếng - 1 — Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao (Photo: Ministry of Industry and Trade).

Regarding the proposal to coordinate customs clearance to avoid the recurrence of congestion of goods at border gates, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce affirmed that it attaches great importance to and is ready to coordinate and implement measures to facilitate customs clearance to ensure the interests of Vietnamese farmers.

Regarding support for discovering Vietnamese brands in the Chinese market, the Chinese side will provide a favorable business environment and create conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to build a foothold in the Chinese market.

Mr. Vuong Van Dao said that China is a large market and welcomes high-quality agricultural products from Vietnam. He gave the example of durian. After 10 months since China opened its market (late 2022), Vietnam's durian exports reached more than 2 billion USD. It is forecasted that next year, durian exports to the Chinese market will far exceed this year's.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce informed that it is proposing and urging the General Administration of Customs of China to open the market for Vietnamese agricultural products; it is ready to coordinate with the Vietnamese side to resolve and respond to agricultural product exports.

Previously, at the conference "Current situation of supply of seeds, food, and materials for marine aquaculture; traceability of products and solutions for sustainable development of marine aquaculture in Vietnam" organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) in Khanh Hoa, Mr. Vo Van Thai, Director of Van Phong Aquaculture Cooperative, said that lobster farmers in Khanh Hoa are facing extremely difficult situations after China stopped importing.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Quyen, a large aquaculture farmer in Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa) also had to urgently call for help when she could not export her spiny lobsters. Not only in Khanh Hoa, spiny lobster farming areas in Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan also fell into a situation of lacking buyers.

Mr. Le Ba Anh, Deputy Director of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) informed that in the first 9 months of this year, lobster exports to the Chinese market only reached more than 95 million USD, down more than 46% compared to the same period in 2022.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the reason for the lack of lobster sales is that last May, China updated the list of wild animals that need to be protected, and lobsters were included in this list. By August, lobster exports to China were suspended because customs at border gates strictly controlled imported wild lobsters.

Source