Vietnam is the 5th largest seafood supplier to Switzerland

According to information from the Agency of Foreign Trade (Ministry of Industry and Trade), Switzerland is a landlocked country, so it imports almost all of its annual seafood consumption. Each year Switzerland consumes 75,000 - 80,000 tons of all kinds of seafood.

Switzerland's aquaculture and seafood processing output only reaches about 3,000 tons/year. For the remaining quantity, Switzerland depends entirely on imports.

According to statistics from the International Trade Center (ITC), in January 2024, Switzerland's seafood imports reached nearly $ 70 million, down 4.8% over the same period in 2023. In particular, Switzerland mainly imports seafood from European countries such as Norway, France, Netherlands, Germany, Italy...

In 2023 and January 2024, Switzerland tends to increase seafood imports from European markets, decreasing imports from non-European markets.

Vietnam is the 5th largest seafood supply market for Switzerland in January 2024 with a value of $ 5.1 million, down 38.1% compared to January 2023. Vietnam's seafood market share in total Swiss imports decreased from 8.4% in 2023 to 7.3% in January 2024. In particular, the market share of Vietnam's key seafood products such as all kinds of shrimp and pangasius account for a high proportion of Switzerland's total imports.

Switzerland's import management mechanism as well as requirements for technical standards and quality of imported seafood are similar to EU regulations. Imports of seafood products are not subject to quotas and import tax on most Swiss seafood and processed seafood products is 0%.

However, like the EU, Switzerland believes that illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a global problem, threatening marine ecosystems and sustainable fishing activities. In Switzerland and France, the order on controlling the legal origin of imported seafood products (IUU ordinance) takes legal effect from March 1, 2017.