The Vietnam Association of Fish Sauce (VAFS) was launched in Ha Noi on Tuesday.. — VAFS Photo

The Vietnam Association of Fish Sauce (VAFS) was launched in Ha Noi on Tuesday.

The association’s founding members come from cities and provinces nationwide, representing fish sauce manufacturers, traders, exporters and importers, scientists, managers and testers, of which there are 35 fish sauce processing establishments involved in exporting to more than 20 markets, including the US, EU, Japan and South Korea.

Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, a representative of the association, said the sales and production volume of fish sauce of the association’s founding members account for about 70 per cent of the total sales and output of the Vietnamese fish sauce industry.

Speaking at the congress of the association in the 2020-25 term, Thuy said this was an important event marking a new development of the domestic fish sauce industry.

“This is a house for all members to co-operate closely to affirm the position of Vietnamese fish sauce in the international market,” Thuy said.

The association will focus on solving problems in processing technologies to help fish sauce products meet the standards of importing countries.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien asked the association to work with the ministry to build the Viet Nam seafood development strategy.

Tien said Viet Nam had more than 780 fish sauce processing units and nearly 1,500 household producing fish sauce.

At the congress, Tran Dang, the former director-general of the Department of Food Safety under the Ministry of Health, was tapped to be the association’s chairman. – VNS