Warnings Issued to Domestic Seafood Exporters to Malaysia

The Asia-Pacific Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade has warned domestic seafood products exporters that they should pay special attention to payment conditions for commodities exported to the Malaysian market.

Trade experts from the Asia-Pacific Market Department say that Malaysia’s major import markets such as the EU and the US are suffering serious impacts from the global economic downturn, thus their seafood imports have dramatically slowed down.

Moreover, at present, exports of Malaysian seafood products to the EU were temporarily delayed because they did not meet the food quality standards of the EU market. This has caused a huge backlog of commodities and a decline in future orders, while at the same time banks in Malaysia are restricting new loans.

Therefore, aiming to curb the amount of risk that Vietnamese seafood product exports might face, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has recommended Vietnam’s seafood businesses to pay close attention to payment conditions. If Malaysia still applies the TTR (Telegraphic Transfer Reimbursement) payment system as before, high risks could possible occur. In fact, somme Vietnam’s seafood businesses have recently exported commodities to Malaysia, but have not received payment yet because Malaysian businesses say they were meeting difficulties getting payment themselves from their importers. (CPV)