Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Hanoi, Jan.7 (VNA) -- Local catfish breeders and exporters decided to set up a club of their own at a conference held in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang on Jan. 5.

The conference on catfish breeding and exports was organized by the Ministry of Fisheries.

Participants at the conference said the club would help co-ordinate production and trading and protect their legitimate rights.

The Viet Nam "basa" and "tra" (Viet Nam catfish) Club would act as their representative in all aspects ranging from breeding, farming, processing and trading, they said.

Both breeders and exporters agreed to strengthen cooperation in trading with a fixed minimum price for produce to avoid with dumping.

The conference also discussed way to sustain Vietnamese catfish's competitiveness in demanding markets including North America, Europe, Hong Hong, and Australia while looking for other markets in Japan and China.

The club has targeted catfish exports of between USD 150 and 170 million by 2005.

Officials say that catfish breeding, which is being developed on an industrial scale while safeguarding the environment, has helped hundreds of thousands of households in the Mekong Delta.

After the dispute over the commerial name of Vietnamese catfish, the Ministry of Fisheries has officially demanded that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) give Viet Nam at least six month's time to change the name of products that have been exported as catfish thus far.

Deputy Minister of Fisheries Nguyen Thi Hong Minh has said that this was an urgent measure being taken to resolve the current dispute that is hindering Viet Nam-US trade in fish and fish products.

Viet Nam has also asked the FDA to accept three new commercial names for Vietnamese catfish - "hypo basa, suctchibasa, and trasa".--VNA