General Secretary, Truong Dinh Hoe, said that after a Spanish television station had broadcast video footage of false information about the national fishing industry, a group of people used this to spread propaganda against Vietnamese pangasius.
“A certain group of people seeks to take advantage of this environmental incident to inflate the story and assist the sale of domestic fish, instead of imports from Vietnam,” Hoe said.
According to the secretary general, what was reflected in the images does not represent the Vietnam fishing industry. It is not the standard of fish production process but only a phenomenon that has been exaggerated to defame Vietnam pangasius industry.
Following this incident, Carrefour, Europe’s largest retailer, said it would stop selling Vietnamese pangasius, even though they had been selling only a small amount of this item.
Tam Nguyen, general director of Vinh Hoan Corporation, told that she felt this was a media issue, rather than anything to do with the pangasius sector.“We really don’t see that there are national issues with pangasius, rather that the media seems to be re-broadcasting a message that Carrefour Belgium’s PR department somehow approved about claims of environmental detriment from Vietnamese aquaculture operations,” she said.
Hoe said it is not known how much they sell in a year since they do not buy directly from Vietnam but through importers. However, information from a number of importers shows that the percentage of pangasius sold by Carrefour is insignificant, The Daily reported.
He also noted that although, consumption of Vietnamese fish may decline due to this case, the impact will not be serious, as production activities continue to meet environmental and food safety requirements.
The executive stressed that Vietnam continues to offer Europe products that meet all the conditions of this market, such as ASC (the main global certification and labeling program for responsible seafood) and Global GAP (Good Agricultural Practices).
