OREANDA-NEWS. On September 16, 2013 Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russian Federation (FAS) published on its web site the resolution dated September 6, 2013 on the case #1-11-127/00-22-12 regarding a cartel on a market of pangasius from Vietnam (the link: www.fas.gov.ru/solutions/solutions_38055.html ).

As the only public Russian company in fish industry, Russian Sea Group supports FAS in its intention to protect and provide legal regulation of the Russian market from local and foreign suppliers abuse and is ready to provide any expert support in order to improve the economic climate, investment attractiveness and observance of the legislation of Russian Federation by all fish market players.

At the same time Russian Sea Group considers FAS has wrongly interpreted certain circumstances of this case and as a result has made a decision that contradicts existing legislation. In this case in order to make a correct decision it is necessary to investigate more thoroughly the specifics of fish trade from South-East Asia.

For a long time low-quality and insecure products for Russian consumers were exported from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the Russian market. This situation disrupted food security of the Russian Federation and threatened its further development. In order to enhance trade between our countries the committee “Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers” (VASEP) was established. VASEP in cooperation with Russian “Association of Fish Processing and Trading Companies” (AFPTC) worked on implementation of new quality standards and intensified control of phosphate and glaze content in fish fillet exported to Russian market from this region. The above mentioned organizations carefully selected suppliers whose level of competence in this question corresponded to all veterinary and sanitary requirements and standards needed to produce and supply fish products to the territory of Russian Federation. Thus the committee (VASEP) and association (AFPTC) worked for the benefit of the fish industry. Their main target is to increase quality control over deliveries of pangasius fillet to Russia. We believe that the joint efforts of these organizations ensured that Russian consumers got access to high-quality imported products.

Therefore Russian Sea Group and its subsidiary, Russian Fish Company, plan to appeal FAS resolution in court.