Vietnam challenges Brazilian restrictions on tilapia

The decision by Brazilian states to tighten tax and health rules for tilapia imported from Vietnam opened a new chapter in the trade dispute involving the fish.

Last Wednesday, the Association of Fish Producers and Exporters of Vietnam formalized an urgent request to the Brazilian government to investigate state measures to tighten the entry of Vietnamese fish into the country.

According to Francisco Medeiros, president of Peixe BR, the main target of Vietnam's complaints are the tax initiatives adopted by states such as São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Minas Gerais and Pernambuco, which now include the ICMS value in the import tariff.

"Vietnam planned to export to Brazil and now complains because the states are adopting legal measures to protect local production", he says.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA) revoked in April 2025 the precautionary suspension that had been applied in February 2024 for the import of tilapia from Vietnam, allowing the fish to enter the country after a technical reassessment of the health risks, especially related to the Tilapia Lake Virus (TiLV), a highly contagious virus among fish.

The federal decision was part of trade negotiations between Brazil and Vietnam, including the opening of the Vietnamese market to Brazilian beef.

According to Medeiros, a mission from the Vietnamese government is scheduled for October with the aim of discussing the issue with Brazilian authorities. For the sector, however, the initiative is strange.

"It seems that an agreement was reached that we are not aware of. What we want is equal conditions to compete", he said.

Sector highlights health risk
The main argument of the Brazilian production chain continues to be the health risk.

According to Medeiros, Peixe BR presented a technical note to the Ministry of Agriculture defending the carrying out of audits on Vietnamese plants before allowing imports.

"We demonstrated that there are illnesses present in Vietnam that do not exist in Brazil. We requested that the Brazilian government send technicians to carry out an audit, but this did not happen", he stated.

Import of tilapia from Vietnam worries the sector | MONEY NEWS

Without a federal restriction on imports, some state governments began to adopt their own measures.

São Paulo confirmed the charge of 7% ICMS on imported tilapia, while Paraná applies a rate of 22% and Minas Gerais, 18%.

According to Medeiros, these initiatives seek to correct a tax distortion.

"The São Paulo producer paid ICMS, while the imported tilapia arrived without this state charge. What we are asking for is equality", he stated.

He highlights that the federal import tax remains at 9%, but states have constitutional autonomy to define ICMS taxation.

Growth in imports worries producers
According to Peixe BR, the increase in imports had a direct impact on the national industry. Between August and December 2025, 176 thousand tons of tilapia were imported from Vietnam. Brazil produced 1 million fish last year. Of this total, 700 thousand tons were tilapia.

"The state of São Paulo imported, in just the first five months of this year, a volume equivalent to around 30% of its entire production. If supply increases in this proportion and consumption remains stable, someone stops selling", stated Medeiros.

He says that the result was the closure of companies and a reduction in the commercialization of national production.

Competitiveness
In Medeiros' assessment, the problem is not the cost of production on Vietnamese farms, but the conditions after cultivation.

"The cost within the property is similar to the Brazilian one. The difference appears because of subsidies granted by the Vietnamese government and processing rules that are different from those applied in Brazil," he said.

According to Medeiros, Vietnamese legislation allows industrial procedures that are not currently authorized in the country, which would reduce the final cost of the product.

According to Peixe BR, the sector has not yet been called by the federal government to discuss the visit of the Vietnamese mission scheduled for October.

"The government doesn't talk to us about this issue. We hope that this situation will be clarified and that there will be a technical discussion on health, taxation and competitiveness", said Medeiros.

Source: CNN