New figures from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) show that Russia is now the 9th largest importer of fresh and frozen tuna fish from Vietnam.

Shipments of tuna fish to the leading Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) nation in the four months leading up to May shot up over twofold last year’s same period, a good omen of things to come when Vietnam-EEU trade pact comes into full force.

The EEU is a Russia-led trade bloc established in 2015 on the basis of the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. It currently has four members – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia.

Kyrgyzstan is on the verge of joining the group while Tajikistan is a prospective member.

Vietnam and the EEU signed the trade pact on May 29, 2015, which carries with it a commitment to reduce import tariffs to zero, which should open more opportunities for Vietnam’s tuna and other seafood.

Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Import-Export Department, said seafood is a top market that should benefit for the agreement along with the garment and footwear industries.

Hai said the EEU has agreed in principle to remove import tariffs on substantially all tuna and other seafood exports soon after the agreement comes into effect, hopefully later this year or early next year.

The robust 11% expansion in the Russian market for tuna fish in the early months of the year is a good sign for the seafood industry said Hai, adding that it has helped to offset sharp declines for the same period for other major markets.

Most notably, during the period tuna exports to Japan dropped 38% on-year to account for barely 1% of the country’s total export volume. Japan is now the fourth largest importer of tuna following the US, EU and ASEAN.

Tuna exports to the EU also dipped 20% for the first four months, of which the Netherlands saw the largest decline of 61% while the German market fell 5% and the market in Spain doubled.

The US was by far the largest market generating 40% of total Vietnam tuna export revenue in the early months of the year.

Exports to the US for the period rose 3.3% to reach US$58.2 million, to ASEAN by 13.8% to US$0.6 million. Exports to Mexico surged by 91.7% to US$3 million.

The most important thing is for Vietnam tuna processors and exporters to pay meticulous attention to details and improving the quality of seafood to meet with the strict requirements of demanding markets./.

VNF/VOV