>> WWF\'s disapproval of Vietnam\'s major seafood exports stirs strong opposition
>> VASEP to set single tra fish floor price
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has requested that WWF publicise its indexes for assessing tra fish.
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| WWF\'s assessment will cause many difficulties for Vietnamese tra fish breeders |
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| Graph of Vietnamese tra fish exports in Jan-Oct, 2010 |
The appeal was made after the VASEP’s strong opposition to the WWF’s move in which they put tra pangasius onto its consumer ‘red list’, warning European buyers to choose other products instead of tra fish.
At a press conference in Hanoi on December 7, VASEP said it also asked WWF to correct its assessments in the consumer guides in several European countries. Recently, WWF said that tra fish farms pollute the natural environment around them, because nutrients, medicines and pesticides are washed into the surrounding rivers and lakes, which have led to high risk of disease and infection of other kinds of fish.
Vasep said it will create the most favourable conditions for WWF experts to study issues related to Vietnam’s tra pangasius to have a proper viewpoint of this kind of product.
WWF has also added two additional seafood items of Vietnam, shrimp and tilapia, onto its ‘red list’, saying their farming production is harmful to the environment.
Speaking at the conference, Nguyen Huu Dung, Deputy Chairman of VASEP, said that the finding of WWF were groundless and can cause big losses for Vietnamese exporters and affect the transparency and prestige of WWF as well.
Currently, Vietnam exports 1.5 million tonnes of tra fish annually. In the first ten months of this year, the country earned over USD1.1 billion from exporting tra fish.
Vietnamese fishery experts wondered whether the move that WWF has added tropical seafood products onto its list is aimed to force aquatic breeders and processors to use standards set by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, an independent and non-profit organisation established by WWF and the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) in 2009.
