Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Luong Le Phuong talked to Hai Quan (Customs) newspaper about difficulties faced by tra fish farmers in trying to meet the Aquaculture Stewardship Council\'s standards.

Could you tell me what the ASC is and why tra fish have to meet the standards?

The ASC is the leading global certification and labelling programme for responsibly farmed seafood. It is an international organisation working with aquaculture producers, seafood processors, retail and food service companies, scientists, conservation groups and the public to encourage the best environmental and social choices in seafood.

The ASC-certified programme and seafood label recognises responsibly farmed aquaculture products. Products with the label win trust from customers. The ASC realises that the breeding of tra fish is one of the fastest developing aquaculture industries. Tra and basa fish breeding in Viet Nam accounts for 90 per cent of world supplies. Last year, Viet Nam exported 659,400 tonnes of tra fish worth USD1.4 billion to 141 markets throughout the world.

This quick growth rate raises concerns about environmental aspects. Therefore, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, one of the ASC\'s partners, met to set up standards to limit any negative impacts.

What new points are there in ASC standards compared with Global Good Agricultural Practices (Global GAP) and Safety Quality Food (SQF) ? Will tra fish breeders meet difficulties when the ASC is applied?

ASC standards will take effect in the middle of this year. We have known about the ASC since the WWF listed tra fish on the red list. After being removed from the list, it was listed among aquaculture products that have to apply ASC standards.

Applying ASC standards increases the costs of tra-fish production. It costs about USD7,500 annually to have every five-hectare pond certified, the same as getting a Global GAP certificate. So when Viet Nam raises 3,000ha of tra fish in a few years, breeders will be paying a lot of money for ASC certification.

So what does the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant agencies advise?

At present, tra fish breeding and the aquaculture industry in general have to deal with many non-legal certifications, hence, it is necessary to carefully assess any new standards.

Besides, it also takes time to verify if the standards are suitable for Vietnamese conditions, thus avoiding setting precedents for non-government organisations to create more standards.

What do we need to do to improve the quality of tra fish and help tra fish breeders remedy difficulties caused by certifications?

To stably develop tra fish breeding, farmers are advised to attach importance to the quality of the product. We need to strengthen the promotion of Vietnamese tra fish internationally.