Australia agrees to re-import processed shrimps from Vietnam

According to Vietnam’s Trade Office in Australia, the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources has officially accepted Vietnam’s applications for importing raw shrimps that are caught naturally in Australia for processing, and then re-exported to Australia.

The new requirements have been updated in Australia’s Biosecurity Import Conditions System (BICON).

On January 7, the Australian Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources announced the suspension of prawn and uncooked shelled shrimp imports from Asian nations, including Vietnam, in fear of white spot disease outbreaks in Australia. The ban took effect on January 9 and lasts for six months.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has proposed Australia remove the ban soon and support Vietnam in exporting fresh whole shrimps to the market as soon as possible.

According to Vietnam’s Trade Office in Australia, Australia is the 7th largest import market of Vietnamese shrimps, which consumes 3.6% of the country’s total shrimp export volume. In 2016, Vietnam earned US$114.6 million from shipping shrimps to Australia, 78% of which was processed shrimps.

In the past five years, Vietnam has been the largest supplier of processed shrimps for Australia. Despite the market’s strict requirements, it is considered a promising market for Vietnamese firms due to high and increasing demand. Meanwhile, Australia tends to narrow down its import markets and focus on only major ones, which is also an advantage for Vietnam.