Hanoi (VNA) –The VietnameseMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) will urge the US topromptly conduct a field study of Vietnam’s tra fish market, said an official.

The move followed the US’sunexpected imposition of anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese tra fish, which is5.6 times higher than the previous level, according to Deputy Minister ofAgriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan.

On March 20, 2018, the US Departmentof Commerce (DOC) announced the final results of the 13th administrativereview (POR 13) of anti-dumping duties on frozenpangasius fillets from Vietnam between August1, 2015 and July 31, 2016, slapping unprecedentedly high rates of 3.87-7.74 USDper kg.

The Vietnamese Directorate ofFisheries said the US’s decision has caused adverse impacts on the sector, asreflected through the decrease in Vietnam’s tra fish exports to the US from22.3 percent in 2016 to 19 percent in 2017.

It may affect the brand name, imageand prestige of Vietnamese tra fish globally, and prompt other markets to setup trade barriers to the products, the agency said.

Besides, the levy may lead tochanges in production and business strategies of local firms which will targetless strict markets after they failed to meet the US’s requirements.

The domestic exporters will lowerstandards for product quality and food safety, the agency added.

Deputy Minister Tuan said hisministry is working together with the DOC in implementing regulations of theinvestigation into pangasius to be conducted by the US’s Food Safety andInspection Service (FSIS), which is likely to occur in May 2018.

The DOC’s decision is unfair and irrationalto Vietnamese businesses, he said, adding that it lacks a legal basis and goesagainst normal legal regulations on anti-dumping.

The unprecedented high rate reflectsthe DOC’s groundless, subjective imposition, Tuan said.

The MARD will increase bilateral andmultilateral meetings to discuss two-way trade between Vietnam and the US andto show the efforts of the Vietnamese Government and the business community incomplying with regulations and principles relating to the code of conduct ininternational trade to defend interests of the sides concerned harmoniously,according to the official.

Besides, the ministry will urge the USside to make a field trip to Vietnam to recognise equivalent standards. Thefield trip is expected to be held on April 30 or no later than September.

If the consensus on equivalenttechnologies and standards cannot be reached on the third week of September,Vietnam may bring the case to the World Trade Organisation and use thedecision-making right of economic arbitrator, Tuan said.-VNA