Decision No. 242/2006/QD-TTg Approves the Program on Developing Seafood Export to 2010 and Orientations to 2020

Pursuant to …;

Approve the Program on Developing Seafood Export

until 2010 and orientations until 2020

_____________________

PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Fisheries,

Pursuant to …;

Article 1. Approve the Program on Developing Seafood Export until 2010 and orientations until 2020 with the main contents as follows:

I. OBJECTIVES

1. General Objective

Based on industrialization and modernization of the fisheries sector, enhancing competitiveness, promoting effective and sustainable growth of seafood export, achieving high positions in the international market. Continue to adjust the export structure towards increasing exports of high-value-added products and gradually reducing the proportion of raw material exports. Seafood export is both a goal and a driving force to promote structural adjustment among sectors within agriculture, stimulating efficient development of aquaculture and marine fishing, contributing to improving living standards and enriching coastal and island rural residents.

2. Specific objectives until 2010

- Strive to achieve an average annual growth rate of seafood export turnover of over 9%;

- By 2010, the value of seafood export turnover reaches 4 to 4.5 billion USD.

3. Orientations until 2020

Continuing to develop the fisheries sector as a leading industry in the process of industrializing and modernizing agriculture and rural areas, striving for technological processing levels of seafood to be equivalent to developed countries by 2020, making seafood continue to be a key economic sector and one of the main export commodities of the country.

II. TASKS

1. Production of seafood products supplying raw materials for export

Strive to reach over 900,000 tons of exported seafood products by 2010, including major products such as: 225,000 tons of shrimp products, 230,000 tons of catfish and basa products, 75,000 tons of squid and octopus products, 160,000 tons of marine fish products, 40,000 tons of bivalve mollusk products...

2. Regarding markets

- Continue to maintain and develop seafood export markets. Increase exports to major markets, particularly focusing on the Chinese market and potential markets; at the same time, proactively expand export markets to promptly regulate when there are market fluctuations;

- Strive to stabilize market shares in major markets: Japan 25%, USA about 23-25% in the near term and over 30% in the last years of the 2006-2010 period and subsequent years, EU from 20-22%, China + Hong Kong 7-9%, South Korea about 8%.

3. Continue to innovate and strengthen processing capacity towards industrialization, modernization, and deep investment to increase export turnover value

- Strive to reach by 2010, 100% of seafood processing enterprises meet industry standards for aquatic food safety; simultaneously, increase freezing capacity by about 250 tons/day to meet export targets;

- Promote production of high-value-added products, processed products with high technology content, to reach 65-70% in total exported seafood products by 2010.

III. MAIN SOLUTIONS

1. Group of solutions regarding markets

a) Focus on building and implementing market development strategies, especially key markets, linked to the construction and promotion of national brands for main product groups: shrimp, catfish, basa, tuna...;

b) Gradually establish a network of overseas distribution for Vietnamese seafood products to proactively coordinate goods in major markets. Build cooperative relationships and business partnerships with large distributors, supermarket systems, and large food service organizations in these markets;

c) Reform market development methods towards professionalization, diversification, and expansion of trade promotion forms;

d) Enhance understanding of international laws among trade officials and businesses to integrate into the global economy, proactively respond and combat trade disputes and barriers caused by import countries' protectionist policies.

2. Group of solutions regarding raw materials

a) Pay attention to organizing production, especially organizing concentrated aquaculture areas towards linking production with scientists and managers, creating large quantities of goods and controlling quality, ensuring safety standards. In marine fishing, organize offshore production in teams, cooperatively, linked with the use of service vessels, enhancing production efficiency and product quality, increasing the proportion of harvested products entering processing and export;

b) Develop and implement programs for developing main products and new products with market potential;

c) Apply advanced preservation technologies together with establishing a system of fishing ports and fish markets to minimize post-harvest losses; at the same time, reorganize the warehouse system, leveraging positive roles and limiting negative aspects of this system to gradually manage raw material markets well;

d) Strengthen diverse imports of raw materials with appropriate structures to serve re-export processing, meeting product structure requirements of the market, overcoming seasonal supply issues of domestic production.

3. Solutions regarding seafood processing

a) Continue to upgrade production conditions, apply food safety management systems according to HACCP, GMP, SSOP..., ensuring that 100% of export processing enterprises meet industry standards for food safety;

b) Continue to invest deeply, innovate technology, equipment, mechanize and automate processing lines. Attract foreign investment in the processing industry to access modern world processing industries;

c) Promote research, development, and innovation of products in enterprises. Expand varieties and volumes of high-value-added processed seafood products, ready-to-eat meals, reaching 60-65% of added value products in the export value structure.

4. Food Safety

a) Strengthen information dissemination, education, and awareness on food safety in the community, particularly focusing on producers and suppliers of raw materials.

b) Improve and enhance the capacity of the organizational system for inspection and testing of food safety from central to local levels. Promote socialization of activities to ensure food quality and hygiene, mobilizing the participation of the entire community. Increase testing capabilities to meet international standards and strengthen international cooperation on food safety;

c) Establish and implement a product traceability system. In the short term, promptly implement coding for breeding areas, laying the groundwork for origin tracing. Support processing enterprises to enhance their ability to control and detect antibiotic and chemical residues in raw materials, and apply product traceability systems;

d) Strengthen inter-sectoral activities in food safety assurance work. Maintain the control of harmful substance residues in aquatic products and processed aquatic products, and the hygiene and safety control of harvesting areas for bivalve mollusks. Enhance activities to prevent foreign substances from being introduced into aquatic product raw materials;

5. Science and technology, fisheries promotion, and training

a) Develop and comply with quality standards from breeding ponds to export product processing. Perfect safe breeding models, environmentally friendly aquaculture according to GAP, CoC. Popularize knowledge and organize implementation nationwide, striving for at least 50% of concentrated aquaculture areas to implement management systems according to GAP or other systems meeting international standards by 2010;

b) Breakthrough in research and application of high-quality seed production technology resistant to diseases. Prioritize importing seed production technology for valuable aquatic species, increasing targets for export. Strengthen research and guidance for the application of new technologies in seafood processing;

c) Through various forms of fisheries promotion, diversify information dissemination methods, propaganda, and popularize knowledge about breeding, harvesting, preservation, and processing of seafood, basic techniques for handling and preserving seafood for ship owners, fishermen directly harvesting at sea, and middlemen to ensure food hygiene and safety;

d) Strengthen domestic and international training for management staff, researchers, and marketing staff who are proficient in their fields and knowledgeable about laws and economic policies of countries and internationally to enhance and supplement the team of excellent seafood business operators on the international market. At the same time, pay attention to training technical workers and guiding professions to meet the increasingly developing requirements of the industry;

6. Solutions regarding mechanisms and policies

a) The State has policies to encourage and mobilize domestic economic sectors and foreign investors to concentrate capital investment in building large fishing centers, including seafood processing centers in key provinces; invest in aquatic product markets in key fishing regions and border markets between Vietnam and China, modernize the fishery information system;

b) The state budget annually supports funding for: activities related to the control of seafood safety for consumer health; common trade promotion activities for Vietnamese seafood products (brand building, registration protection, brand promotion for key seafood products, marketing training); support the formation and operation of lead organizations in key markets; implement communication and promotion campaigns for Vietnamese seafood products and other trade promotion activities serving the common interests of the industry;

c) Encourage economic sectors and investment resources into raw material production and seafood processing;

IV. IMPLEMENTATION

1. Relevant Ministries and Sectors

a) The Ministry of Fisheries is responsible for:

- Cooperating with relevant ministries, sectors, localities, and associations to uniformly implement the Program;

- Guiding and directing localities to develop production in breeding, harvesting, and processing sectors in accordance with the overall development plan for the fisheries sector that has been approved, and specific plans in each field;

- Organizing the provision of information, forecasting, monitoring, updating, and evaluating the implementation of Program contents; compiling, reporting, and proposing necessary policies and mechanisms to promote Program implementation;

- Continuing to vigorously restructure and reform state-owned enterprises, basically completing restructuring and reform of state-owned enterprises in the processing and export sectors of the fisheries industry;

b) Relevant Ministries and Sectors:

- Ministries and sectors: Finance, Planning and Investment, State Bank are responsible for balancing and allocating the state budget and researching mechanisms and policies to create favorable conditions for the Ministry of Fisheries and localities to implement groups of solutions on financial and credit mechanisms and investment to ensure smooth and effective implementation of the Program;

- Relevant ministries and sectors, according to their functions and tasks, closely coordinate with the Ministry of Fisheries in implementing other groups of solutions related to the Program;

2. People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities

- Directing competent agencies of localities to build and implement their own local programs based on the objectives and tasks of this Program;

- Organizing and guiding organizations and individuals to invest in developing production in the fisheries sector in accordance with the industry's and locality's planning;

- Directing competent agencies of localities to organize guidance and inspection of production and business establishments to strictly comply with legal regulations on product quality control and food hygiene and safety, particularly for seafood;

Article 2. This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 3. THE MINISTERS, HEADS OF GOVERNMENT-LEVEL MINISTRIES, HEADS OF GOVERNMENT-LEVEL AGENCIES, AND CHAIRMEN OF PROVINCE AND CITY PEOPLE'S COMMITTEES DIRECTLY UNDER THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENFORCING THIS DECISION./.