Vietnam shrimp industry faces export and production challenges

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has requested that the Ministry of Industry and Trade negotiate the removal of tariff quotas for Vietnamese shrimp exports to South Korea. While South Korea is a major market, accounting for nearly 50% of Vietnam's shrimp exports, the current bidding mechanism for tariff quotas imposes additional costs estimated at 14% to 16% of import value. This effectively negates the benefits of the VKFTA agreement and makes Vietnamese shrimp less competitive against suppliers like Peru.

Separately, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has intervened to address planning and land-use issues affecting shrimp seed production in Lam Dong and Khanh Hoa provinces. These regions are critical to the industry, producing approximately 70 billion shrimp seeds annually, or nearly 40% of the national supply. Current obstacles include uncertainties regarding land use rights after 2030, investment procedures, and regional planning, which threaten the stability of the domestic shrimp seed supply.