Tra fish distribution centre shaping at Belgian harbour

Head of the Directorate of Fisheries' Science, Technology and International Co-operation Department Nguyen Viet Manhsaid that they were coordinating with the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Export and Import Department, and Vietnamese Trade Office in Belgium to work with the trade agencies in Belgium's Flanders and Zeebrugge areas and a number of Belgium companies to establish the distribution centre.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) and Belgium's Zeebrugge Port late last year had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on establishing the centre.

Under the MoU, a centre will be built at Zeebrugge Port to receive, auction, and distribute Vietnamese tra products throughout the EU. The port's location between France's Le Havre and Germany's Hamburg makes it one of the European market's leading seafood distribution centre.

However, Hoe said, the biggest obstacle for the project was a regulation requiring 8% of Vietnam's total tra fish exported to the EU to go via the centre, while the sale or storage of tra fish at the centre was exporters' decision.

Hoe said that a series of detailed regulations and policies must be issued to have all Vietnamesetra fish go via the centre before being transported to distributors in the EU, and the quality and price of the fish needed to be maintained throughout.

Hoe said that the project would bring major benefits to Vietnam's tra fish industry as the centre would function as an importer bringing Vietnamese tra fish to Belgium and European retailers without using any intermediaries.