Since Decree 37/2024/NĐ-CP took effect on May 19, 2024, Vietnam’s canned tuna exports have been volatile, with several consecutive months of decline. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, export value for this product group reached just USD 71 million, down 13% year-on-year. During this period, shipments to the United States—Vietnam’s largest market—rose by only 1%, while exports to the EU fell by 6%.
Nearly one year after Decree 37/2024’s enactment, processors and fishermen face mounting challenges. Under current rules, many lots of raw tuna cannot obtain the required Source Confirmation Certificates (S/C), disrupting the entire production-export chain. Even when businesses prefer to use domestic raw material—to support local fishermen—they are unable to do so.
Enacted April 4, 2024, Decree 37 imposes minimum catch-size regulations and prohibits mixing imported tuna raw material with domestic catches in the same export shipment. These hurdles have taken a heavy toll on fishermen’s livelihoods and seafood exporters’ operations.
Raw Materials Piling Up, FTAs Underutilized
Across key tuna-producing provinces, large volumes of skipjack and yellowfin raw tuna have been held up for nearly a year. Without port-issued source confirmations, exporters cannot secure preferential origin certificates under Vietnam’s FTAs (EU-VN EVFTA, CPTPP, RCEP, ASEAN, etc.). As a result, Vietnam risks ceding market share to competitors—Ecuador, Mauritius, the Philippines, Indonesia—who fully leverage FTA quotas and tariff preferences (e.g. GSP).
Urgent Need to Restore Supply Chain
Meanwhile, difficulties in exporting to the U.S. have left seafood companies—and the tuna sector in particular—apprehensive. They urgently need relief to diversify export markets and reduce overreliance on any single destination.
To maintain EU market share and benefit from preferential tariff treatment, many Vietnamese processors have resorted to importing tuna from Spain and France. Vietnam customs data show that tuna imports from Spain and France surged 820% and 981% year-on-year in Q1 2025. Yet this workaround brings high freight costs, longer transit times, and additional certificate-of-origin hurdles when transshipment is required.
Call for Decree 37 Amendments
To unblock Vietnam’s vital canned tuna export sector and restore normal fishing activity, businesses are calling on the Government to promptly issue an amended Decree 37. Timely revisions will release stocked raw material, protect fishermen’s livelihoods, and reinforce Vietnam’s competitive edge against other exporters.
Source: VASEP