HANOI - Tran Van Lien,
a shrimp farmer from Soc Trang province in the Cuu Long
(Mekong) Delta, says he may go bankrupt because of a
lawsuit filed last December by the American Southern
Shrimp Alliance (SSA).
The SSA wants to impose
an import tariff of between 25.76 to 93.13 percent on
Vietnam, up from 0 percent, and retroactive to April.
In its petition to the US Department of
Commerce, the American Southern Shrimp Alliance claims
Vietnam, Brazil, China, Ecuador, India and Thailand are
dumping their shrimp on the US market.
Lieng, a former
rice farmer, began to earn more money and have a higher
standard of living when he turned to shrimp
breeding.
However, Lieng said, "I had to
borrow money and the outstanding debts stand at VND30
million [US$1,900], which I can't repay yet as sales may
get worse."
Lieng spoke
on Wednesday at a meeting held by the
Vietnam Fisheries Association, the Vietnam Association of Seafood
Exporters and Producers and the UK-based non-governmental
organization (NGO) ActionAid in Ho Chi Minh City.
Nguyen Thi Tho, a farmer in the coastal district of Can
Gio in Ho Chi Minh City, said the local government
provided financial support to poor households because
the soil was unsuitable for rice farming, but shrimp
breeding has relieved the government of that
burden.
But Tho said she and others do not have enough
money to invest in the breeder shrimp, nor the
facilities to ensure environmental preservation.
Farmers have had to borrow money from banks and
individuals at high interest rates. Except for technical
training, the government does not extend subsidies, said
Tho.
Fearing a negative outcome from the
lawsuit, several banks have refused to lend to shrimp
farmers.
This has reduced the shrimp farming
area in Phu Yen province by half from its original
2,800 hectares (ha), said Tran Thi Viet Ngan, of the
provincial fisheries association.
Le Van Quang,
director of the Minh Phu Company in Ca Mau province,
said in 1999 his company began operations with a plant
capable of processing 5,000 tons of shrimp per year.
As
demand increased, another 7,000-ton capacity plant
opened in early 2002. The two facilities
now provide jobs to more than 2,000 workers, of whom 80
percent are female.
"Last year, we recorded more than
$119 million in turnover, with almost 80 percent coming
from the US market," Quang told Vietnam News. However, in the first four months of this year,
that fell about 20 percent, compared with the same
period in 2003.
Nguyen Tin Nguong of Canimex
Company, also in Ca Mau, said the diligence and skill of
Vietnamese laborers, who work at comparatively low
wages, helps make the local product more attractive.
The advanced equipment used in processing
facilities also helps lower the price of shrimp
products, he said.
A jury chosen by attendees at
the meeting, consisting of a farmer, an elderly man, a
housewife, a teacher and an academic, came to the
conclusion that the SSA's anti-dumping lawsuit against
Vietnamese shrimp farmers and exporters was
"unreasonable and groundless".
They said it aims
to protect a US shrimp industry that is weakly
competitive.
"We ask the US government to show
its objective and unbiased attitude in handling the
suit, while respecting the no-differential treatment
principle of the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement,"
the group said in its statement.
The group also
said it wanted a joint effort from Vietnam's concerned
parties, including a search for alternative markets, to
reduce any adverse impact on farmers and processing
companies.
(Asia Pulse/VNA)
Jun 3, 2004
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