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

HÀ NỘI — The Vietnam Association of Fish Sauce (VAFS) was launched in Hà Nội 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.

Nguyễn Thị Bích Thủy, 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, Thủy 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,” Thủy 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 Phùng Đức Tiến asked the association to work with the ministry to build the Việt Nam seafood development strategy.

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

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