According to the Department of Industry and Trade of Ca Mau province, Ca Mau crab is an aquatic product with great export potential, imbued with the ecological identity of the extreme southern part of the country. The whole province of Ca Mau currently has about 380,000 hectares of crab farming (mainly intercropped with shrimp), with an average output of 40,000 tons/year, contributing to creating stable livelihoods for tens of thousands of coastal households.
Farmers and crab farming cooperatives in Ca Mau are committed to maintaining the correct product quality. However, sea crab is not only found in Ca Mau province but also in other provinces in the Mekong Delta region. Mr. Nguyen Hoang An - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cai Bat Ca Mau Crab Cooperative - said that Ca Mau does not lack quality crabs, but in Ca Mau, not all farming areas have the same quality. The crabs in the mangrove forest are different from the U Minh brackish water area. Even those who have bought crabs for many years are not easily distinguished. The problem is managing farming areas, issuing certificates, and issuing lines to distinguish them from crab in other areas. Mr. An compared: That is the suffering of a famous person, it is not easy to maintain a reputation.
At the conference to connect the supply and demand of Ca Mau crab industry held on November 17, delegates raised limitations in the consumption and export of Ca Mau crab.
Ca Mau crabs are mostly domestically consumed or exported through intermediaries; mainly fresh crabs, not yet strongly developed processing products and value-added goods; logistics system is still weak, especially for raw commercial crabs; brand building, traceability and quality standards are still being completed; at the same time, there are not enough strong focal businesses to organize chain linkages from farming areas to officially exported markets.
The above limitations require the province to promote trade promotion, expand export markets, especially target potential markets such as China, Korea, Singapore, etc.
Mr. Pho Man - Head of the border branch of Guangxi Certification and Appraisal Company (China) - said that this unit is the representative agency of the Chinese Government in controlling the quality of imported goods in the domestic market. In recent years, the output of sea crab in Vietnam in general and in Ca Mau in particular has increased, meeting the great demand from the Chinese market, where consumers are very fond of Vietnamese crab.
Mr. Pho Man expressed his desire to coordinate with Ca Mau to establish a quality control unit right in the locality. This will help trace the origin more easily, protect the brand of Ca Mau crab, shorten customs clearance time, ensure product quality and thereby increase the value of exported crab.
Many crab-related enterprises also believe that market demand is increasing, especially for sea crab and crab raised according to an ecological model. However, purchasing work still faces many difficulties because most households have small scale, products are not uniform, and the farming process has not been fully recorded, causing obstacles to traceability. Therefore, standardizing the production process and information transparency is an urgent requirement,...
