Minister of Industry and Trade sends letter asking the United States to objectively consider seafood trade

(Chinhphu.vn) - On September 15, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien sent a letter to US Secretary of Commerce (DOC) Howard Lutnick, asking DOC and NOAA to reconsider their decision to refuse to recognize the equivalent of 12 Vietnamese seafood fishing occupations in order to avoid serious disruptions to bilateral trade and protect the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese fishermen and workers.

The US decision greatly affects the export of many key seafood species from Vietnam to the US - Illustrative photo

According to information from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), on September 10, VASEP sent Official Dispatch No. 156/CV-VASEP to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Advisory Council for Administrative Procedure Reform and the Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Surveillance regarding the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the US Department of Commerce (DOC) notifying the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment of Vietnam about the refusal to recognize the equivalent of 12 seafood exploitation occupations of Vietnam under the US Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

Accordingly, seafood species exploited in these fisheries will be stopped from being imported into the United States from January 1, 2026. This is a measure equivalent to an import ban, greatly affecting the export of many key seafood species from Vietnam to the United States such as tuna, swordfish, grouper, mackerel, mullet, crab, squid, mackerel, etc.

According to VASEP, in recent years, the Vietnamese seafood industry, together with the Government and local authorities, has made strong and continuous efforts to modernize, improve accountability and strengthen fisheries management. This includes the National Assembly 's promulgation of the Fisheries Law in 2017, increased resource allocation for local management, as well as maintaining efforts to comply with IUU, SIMP and FIP programs for crab and tuna, and implementing "Dolphin Safe" certification for tuna export supply chains, along with many other legal frameworks and programs to protect marine mammals...

VASEP recommends that, in order to protect the interests of domestic seafood exploitation and aquaculture enterprises in the face of NOAA's decision, there should be urgent and long-term coordinated measures from the Government and relevant ministries and branches, supporting and accompanying the seafood exploitation industry to overcome, remove obstacles and open up the US market for exploited seafood products, to minimize the impact or avoid the risk of having exports stopped from January 1, 2026.

Faced with the above situation, on September 15, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien sent a letter to US Secretary of Commerce (DOC) Howard Lutnick, requesting DOC and NOAA to reconsider this decision to avoid serious disruptions to bilateral trade and protect the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese fishermen and workers.

In a letter to the US Secretary of Commerce, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien also requested that Minister Howard Lutnick pay attention and consider objectively to ensure reasonable results for Vietnamese shrimp exporting enterprises, which are reliable partners and do fair business in the US market, in the ongoing 19th administrative review of anti-dumping tax on shrimp imported from Vietnam.

In the letter, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien also emphasized that the above decisions are not only meaningful for Vietnamese production and export enterprises, farmers and fishermen, but also bring benefits to US importers, workers and consumers.

The United States and Vietnam maintain a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, built on trust and mutual benefit. Vietnam considers the United States an important trade partner and will create the most favorable conditions for US businesses and investors. Vietnam is committed to continuing to work closely with the United States to resolve outstanding issues in a constructive and forward-looking manner.

Anh Tho

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/bo-truong-bo-cong-thuong-gui-thu-de-nghi-hoa-ky-xem-xet-khach-quan-ve-thuong-mai-thuy-san-102250915195443241.htm