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US urged not to alter catfish rules
"It would be a mistake for the US Department of Agriculture to expand the definition of catfish to include tra and basa (or Vietnamese pangasius)," said US National Fisheries Institute (NFI) president John Connelly last Friday.
In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency’s Washington correspondent, Connelly stressed that the US Congress had not classified Vietnamese tra and basa as catfish, so administrative efforts now to redefine the products in order to stem import competition with US catfish producers were problematic and ultimately unfair to American consumers and soybean farmers.
The move would cause harm to both countries, Connelly said. For one, if Viet Nam’s pangasius production were limited, it would reduce Vietnamese purchases of US soybeans used in feeding pangasius.
In addition, a ban on imports of Vietnamese pangasius would impact seafood processing and packaging plants in the US states of Idaho, Massachusetts and Florida, as well as reduce choices of US consumers who would lose the opportunity to enjoy the Vietnamese product, Connelly said.
Vietnamese tra and basa were safe and healthy, and trade in the fish was an important element of the US-Viet Nam relationship, Connelly said. Stronger US imports would, in turn, help boost US exports to Viet Nam.
At a time when US President Barack Obama was trying to renew American leadership abroad and take steps to repair relationship with developing nations, it would be wrong to crack down on seafood imports from Viet Nam, he added.
Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Le Cong Phung has written to nearly 140 US congressmen, asking them to look into draft US Department of Agriculture rules relating to Vietnamese tra and basa fish.
Under the US Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008, the department was required to issue regulations governing the inspection of imported catfish. Under its draft regulations, it would include tra and basa within the definition of catfish.
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