CPTPP helping Vietnamese shrimp enter Canada

processing export shrimp

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Canada has been among the top 10 import markets of shrimp of Vietnam for many years. Although shrimp exports to this market have not grown strongly, Canada is considered as a potential market for Vietnamese shrimp because its position is close to the US and the people have high living standards.

Canada is currently the sixth largest shrimp import market of Vietnam and accounts for nearly 5% of total shrimp exports of Vietnam.

From 2007 to2016, exports of Vietnamese shrimp to Canada were unstable, ranging from $US65.5 to $US201.5 million. However, from 2016 up to now, Vietnam’s shrimp exports to Canada have continuously grown from $US 122.5 million in 2016 to $US161.6 million in 2018. As of March 15, 2019, exports of Vietnam shrimp to Canada reached $US 23.8 million, increased by 7.5% over the same period in 2018.

In recent years, Canada has consumed a lot of warm water shrimp of Southeast Asian countries due to declining supply of cold water shrimp. Recent reports forecast that cold water shrimp production in Canada will drop sharply in 2019 as shrimp biomass surveys at Canadian fishing grounds showed poor results. This is a favorable factor for exporting Vietnamese shrimp to Canada.

According to the International Trade Center (ITC), Vietnam is still the largest shrimp supplier to this market, accounting for 30.3% market share in Canada..

Earlier this year, the CPTPP Agreement became valid in Vietnam, a deal of which Vietnam and Canada are both members. This is a good opportunity for Vietnamese shrimp enterprises to exploit the Canadian market because Vietnam's competitors in this market such as India, Thailand and Indonesia are not in the CPTPP Agreement.

With the above advantages, experts recommend that Vietnamese enterprises need to study the market carefully, focusing on price, design and quality to increase the competitiveness of Vietnamese shrimp products in the Canada market.