American Ministry of Agriculture is taking a consideration in classifying Vietnamese tra and basa as catfish to set Vietnamese fish under strict inspection regulation.

Since it is hard to meet the regulation with a high cost exclusive of the waste of time for building the system, Vietnamese companies will come up against a lot of obstacles, said experts.

Nguyen Huu Dung, Permanent Deputy President of Vietnam Association of Seafood Processing and Exporting, in exchanging with BBC on May 22, called the regulation a new foreign trade barrier.

Nguyen Huu Dung: The action of expanding the range of definition of catfish over Pangasius would be considered as building a new foreign trade barrier.

In 2002, American Congress approved a law of banning Vietnam as well as other countries trading products named catfish which is not American siluridae in the country’s market. Their purpose is to prevent tra and basa export to the USA.

Vietnam then had to trade products under its right name that is tra and basa or swain called by the American customers. This is the story of 6 or 7 years ago and at the present America still has ambition to prevent tra and basa export to the country, the action is nothing but the build of a new foreign trade barrier.

BBC: Would you please sharing your opinion about the fact that Wall Street Journal is calling for the support of President Obama in the fight against protection?

Nguyen Huu Dung: An article of Wall Street Journal calls it an action of protection. I have thorough knowledge about American President Barak Obama’s new foreign policy of openness and goodwill. The fact that there are many people desire to expand the definition of catfish, I think, would cause harm to the policy.