Vietnam’s tra fish export to Egypt still down

Dang Ngoc Quang, Vietnam’s trade counselor in Egypt, told a conference in HCMC last week on ways to export to Africa, that the dip in Vietnam’s tra export to Egypt had shown no signs of abating since early 2009 after Al Ahram, an Egyptian newspaper, carried an inaccurate report on contamination at Vietnamese fish farms.

The news report then resulted in a suspension of licensing Vietnamese tra export to Egypt. The rumor later was rejected by the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, and the issuance of licenses was then reinstated by the Egyptian embassy in Vietnam.

The impact of the rumor, however, is still lingering and causing Egyptian consumers to shun the Vietnamese product, leading to a sharp decline in Vietnamese tra export to Egypt which consumes millions of tons of seafood per year.  

Tra accounts for 87% of Vietnam’s US$63 million seafood exports to Egypt in 2008 and 73% of US$59 million in 2009. However, tra imports from Vietnam are on the decrease, with the proportion of the fish in the US$25 million seafood export there in the first six months of the year dropping to 65%.

Quang said some Egyptian businesses recommended a publicity campaign to dispel worries about the safety of Vietnam’s tra fish. Besides, Vietnamese exporters should boost the export of well trimmed tra fish, a high quality product, to the Egyptian market, instead of low-priced products.  

Despite the fall in tra fish exports, shipments of other seafoods to the market are improving, including shrimp, tuna, sailfish, cuttlefish, crab and oyster. Statistics provided by Quang show shrimp accounted for only 11% of the country’s US$63 million seafood exports to Egypt in 2008, but the figure rose to 31% in the first half of 2010.    

Seafood is considered Vietnam’s leading export to Egypt, accounting for one third of total exports to this African market.