In response to reports from local seafood exporters on China’s suspension of live tropical rock lobster imports from Vietnam without explanation, the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said on Tuesday that it had yet to receive any announcement about this pause from the Chinese side.

The Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department under the ministry said on the same day that the department had reported the case to the minister and relevant top officials.

The Phu Yen Province fishing community and seafood exporters previously sent a dispatch to the ministry asking for help with shipments of tropical rock lobsters to China.

Meanwhile, some packaging firms reported that Chinese customs agencies at some border gates stopped the imports of live tropical rock lobsters from Vietnam, but the reasons remained unknown.

After being notified of the problem, the department wrote to the Vietnamese Embassy and Trade Office in China prompting them to work with the neighbor’s General Administration of Customs to verify the report, and propose the Chinese side provide Vietnamese seafood firms with new requirements on live tropical rock lobster importation.

Besides, the Vietnamese representatives should urge the Chinese general administration to inform Chinese customs agencies at border gates of customs clearance for Vietnam’s live tropical rock lobster batches until official notice.

According to the Vietnamese Embassy and Trade Office in China, the Chinese customs administration received the proposal, but the Chinese side was too busy to handle this problem.

The Chinese agencies will arrange a time to deal with this case.

“After issuing new regulations on food safety, China, as usual, announces its changes to all of its partners, including Vietnam,” the Vietnamese department affirmed.

However, the department has yet to get any announcement on any suspension of live tropical rock lobster imports into China.

China has recently diversified its lobster supply sources from Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Cuba, India, Brazil, and Mexico, which is expected to affect Vietnam’s exports, according to the department.

To ease the disruption facing Vietnamese lobster exporters, the department will keep collaborating with the Vietnamese Embassy and Trade Office in China to urge the Chinese side to fix the issue.

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