{"id":1405,"date":"2026-07-28T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/?post_type=industry_news&p=1405"},"modified":"2026-07-28T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T01:00:00","slug":"camau-lowcarbon-shrimp","status":"publish","type":"industry_news","link":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/industry_news\/camau-lowcarbon-shrimp\/","title":{"rendered":"EU and NGO, 42 months: will Ca Mau's \"low-emission shrimp\" become proof for procurement?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Ca Mau province, Vietnam's southernmost province, a project has begun that rewrites the very governance of the shrimp industry. Its name is \"Quan tri ben vung nganh tom (Sustainable Governance of the Shrimp Industry).\" As the trade publication Thuy san Viet Nam reported on July 22, 2026, the funding is a joint contribution<\/strong> from the European Union (EU) and ActionAid International, and the implementation period is 42 months. Of that, the activities within Ca Mau province are set from May 24, 2026 to March 31, 2029. The destination is to put 500 farming households and 300 small and midsize enterprises in the Mekong Delta on the footing of ASC certification and ESG and to launch a brand called \"low-emission shrimp (Tom phat thai thap).\" It is not a distant matter for Japanese retailers and trading companies either. The SSBJ sustainability disclosure standards enter phased application from the fiscal year ending March 2027, and Scope 3, which includes the emissions of suppliers, comes into disclosure's range.<\/p>\n

Of the 42 months, 34 are allotted to Ca Mau<\/h2>\n

The whole project period is October 2025 to March 2029. Because activity in Ca Mau province began on May 24, 2026, the working period allotted within the province is roughly 34 months. The reporting divides the project into three components (hop phan). The first is capacity-building for the region and enterprises: forming 10 groups and cooperatives for sustainable shrimp farming, organizing the business alliance \"Lien minh doanh nghiep tom Song xanh,\" training instructors, giving ESG training to farmers and enterprises, and setting up a digital platform for knowledge-sharing and compliance-tracking.<\/p>\n

The second is resident-led monitoring and ASC compliance: lined up are developing monitoring tools, training monitors, traceability support, periodic assessment, supporting farmers' ASC transition, and embedding ESG principles into enterprises' value chains. The third is market-side work, listing market research on certified shrimp, policy advocacy, dialogue among diverse stakeholders, connection with domestic and overseas markets, ESG training for journalists, and building a dedicated information-dissemination page. The electronic magazine Tap chi dien tu Thien nhien va Moi truong joins the public-relations work. How much the EU and ActionAid each contribute is not stated in the reporting.<\/p>\n

All five target communes were formerly in Dong Hai district, old Bac Lieu province<\/h2>\n

The target areas in Ca Mau province are five communes (xa): Long Dien, Dong Hai, Ganh Hao, Dinh Thanh, and An Trach. These five exactly match the names of the five communes formed when 11 communes and towns of the old Dong Hai district in old Bac Lieu province were merged in the 2025 administrative reorganization. The basis for the reorganization is Resolution 13\/NQ-HDND of the Bac Lieu Provincial People's Council (April 28, 2025), and Bac Lieu province itself was merged into Ca Mau province on July 1, 2025 under Resolution 202\/2025\/QH15.<\/p>\n

In other words, although it is talked about collectively as \"Ca Mau shrimp,\" what this demonstration enters is a belt concentrated on the eastern coast of the old Bac Lieu side. From the standpoint of someone organizing sourcing by specifying origins, this geographic skew is the first thing to grasp. The whole province's production does not become low-emission from tomorrow, and the main producing areas on the old Ca Mau side are not among these five communes.<\/p>\n

Figures that could be verified, and figures not disclosed<\/h2>\n

We separate the figures in the reporting into those that could be cross-checked against other articles and those that could not. The original article puts Ca Mau province's shrimp-farming area at about 411,000 ha and writes that it is the largest in the country. The same magazine separately reported Q1 2026 results on April 10, 2026 of 422,194 ha and a harvest of 106,900 tonnes, so the order of magnitude of the area matched. On the other hand, the figure of about 547,000 tonnes of annual output in the original article could not be confirmed to match other disclosed materials, so this article does not treat it.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Item<\/th>\nWhat is disclosed<\/th>\nSource<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Project name<\/td>\nQu\u1ea3n tr\u1ecb b\u1ec1n v\u1eefng ng\u00e0nh t\u00f4m<\/td>\nTh\u1ee7y s\u1ea3n Vi\u1ec7t Nam<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Funding<\/td>\nJoint contribution from the EU and ActionAid International (amount not stated)<\/td>\nSame<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Overall period<\/td>\nOctober 2025\u2013March 2029 (42 months)<\/td>\nSame<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Implementation in Ca Mau<\/td>\nMay 24, 2026\u2013March 31, 2029<\/td>\nSame<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Target areas<\/td>\nThe five communes of Long Dien \/ Dong Hai \/ Ganh Hao \/ Dinh Thanh \/ An Trach<\/td>\nSame<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Support targets<\/td>\n500 farming households, 300 small and midsize enterprises<\/td>\nSame<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Province's farming area<\/td>\nAbout 411,000 ha (Q1 2026 result was 422,194 ha)<\/td>\nSame magazine, April 10, 2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Definition and measurement method of \"low-emission\"<\/td>\nNot stated<\/td>\n\u2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CO2 reduction \/ reduction target<\/td>\nNot stated<\/td>\n\u2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Although the word \"low-emission\" appears in both the project name and the brand name, what is measured and how to call it low-emission is not explained within the range of the reporting. Neither the reduction rate, nor the base year, nor the boundary of calculation appears. We leave this blank.<\/p>\n

Whose words is it reported as<\/h2>\n

The original article that served as the starting point contains not a single direct quote in quotation marks. No comments from farmers or provincial officials are carried either. The disclosed views can be organized into the following three.<\/p>\n

The first is a part written as an explanation by the representative of ActionAid International's Vietnam office. The name is not reported. The person is said to have stated that the project's aim is to raise the industry's governance capacity, promote production in line with sustainable standards, and increase the competitiveness of shrimp products in international markets.<\/p>\n

The second is the Thuy san Viet Nam editorial desk's own assessment of the current situation. It writes that Ca Mau's shrimp industry faces climate change, declining environmental quality of farming areas, rising production costs, and competitive pressure in international markets, and continues that import markets are strengthening their demands on greenhouse-gas reduction, traceability, environmental protection, social responsibility, and transparent governance. This outlet's position is that the focus should shift from expanding production volume to quality and added value.<\/p>\n

The third is content disclosed on July 2, 2026 by ASC itself, the body that issues certification. It deferred the mandatory transition deadline to the unified Farm Standard, which consolidates species-specific standards into one, from May 1, 2027 to May 1, 2028<\/strong> a one-year postponement, it announced. The reason: findings from mock and pilot audits and from the initial certified farms revealed room for improvement in the clarity, consistency, and implementation of the requirements. The interim version V1.0.1A is valid from July 1, 2026 to February 1, 2027, and V1.1 is expected to be published on November 1, 2026. Note that this announcement makes no mention of requirements concerning greenhouse gases or emissions.<\/p>\n

What Japanese procurement should verify is the calculation boundary of \"low-emission\"<\/h2>\n

When the materials are laid out again, what the Japanese side should do first becomes clear. \"Low-emission shrimp\" is not the name of an emission value already measured, but the name of a brand to be built over the next several years. Even if a document received in negotiations says \"low-emission,\" that word alone cannot be used for disclosure. There are three things to confirm, in order. First, the calculation boundary<\/strong>\u2014how far it counts among seedlings, feed, electricity, water treatment, and transport. Second, whether there is third-party verification, and who verified it. Third, because ASC certification is issued at the farm level, whether a delivered lot can be linked to which farm it came from.<\/p>\n

The SSBJ standards begin to apply in the fiscal year ending March 2027 to companies with a market capitalization of 3 trillion yen or more, widen to 1 trillion yen or more in the fiscal year ending March 2028, and to 500 billion yen or more in the fiscal year ending March 2029. Because Scope 3 is included in addition to Scopes 1 and 2, emissions tied to raw materials need to be obtained as primary data from suppliers, or received in a form where the basis of calculation can be explained. Conversely, an origin that can provide the basis of calculation in writing can stand advantageously in condition negotiations during this period. There is already an example in Vietnam of turning regulatory compliance into a selling point: the move by VRG, which went ahead with EUDR-compliant rubber (10,000 tonnes of EUDR-compliant rubber: VRG's sourcing network that \"turns regulation into opportunity\"<\/a>), is on almost the same line in concept.<\/p>\n

One more point. For shrimp, several international requirement axes are overlapping at once. Vietnam is also running a national animal-welfare roadmap targeting shrimp and pangasius (\"Animal welfare\" for shrimp and pangasius: Vietnam launches a national roadmap<\/a>), and a state in which emissions, labor, welfare, and traceability arrive in separate documents will continue for the time being. Unless the procurement side unifies its confirmation format, labor simply melts away just cross-checking documents.<\/p>\n

The transition deadline extended by a year, and the support period and timetable fell into place<\/h2>\n

ASC's one-year postponement is a tailwind for this project. Had the old deadline of May 1, 2027 stood, farmers who began receiving support in May 2026 would have had only a year of grace to complete the transition to the unified standard. With the deadline moved to May 1, 2028, a margin of about 11 months opens up before the end of the activities in Ca Mau (March 31, 2029), making a design that fits transition and certification acquisition inside the support period viable.<\/p>\n

Difficulties remain as well. Because V1.1 is due on November 1, 2026, training that starts before then has no choice but to use a pre-finalized version as its teaching material. The instructor training and digital platform in the first component need reworking to the extent the requirements have moved. Which version the training materials conform to is an item the Japanese side can ask about.<\/p>\n

The processing-side receptacle is thickening ahead. A new plant of the top shrimp company has been launched in Ca Mau (Top shrimp company Minh Phu makes its move: a new Ca Mau plant that changes Japanese procurement<\/a>), and once the raw-material-side proof is in place, the distance to productization is short. Vietnam's shrimp exports hit a record high of US$4.6 billion in 2025 (about 750 billion yen converting at about US$1 = 163 yen), up 19% year on year. The volume is already there. What will make the difference next is the content of the certificate attached to that volume.<\/p>\n

Practical information: when and where to go and look<\/h2>\n

Contact points and office addresses are not reported. We organize only the whereabouts of disclosed primary information and the schedule.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
What to confirm<\/th>\nWhere to go and look<\/th>\nPeriod<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
PR \/ progress<\/td>\nT\u1ea1p ch\u00ed \u0111i\u1ec7n t\u1eed Thi\u00ean nhi\u00ean v\u00e0 M\u00f4i tr\u01b0\u1eddng<\/td>\nAs available<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Latest version of the ASC unified standard<\/td>\nFarm Standard page of ASC's official site<\/td>\nV1.1 expected to be published November 1, 2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ASC's mandatory transition deadline<\/td>\nASC official announcement (July 2, 2026)<\/td>\nMay 1, 2028<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Validity period of the interim version<\/td>\nASC Farm Standard V1.0.1A<\/td>\nJuly 1, 2026\u2013February 1, 2027<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Your own disclosure obligations<\/td>\nApplication schedule of the SSBJ standards<\/td>\nPhased expansion from market capitalization of 3 trillion yen or more<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Location of the origin<\/td>\nThe five communes of old Dong Hai district, old Bac Lieu province<\/td>\nImplementation runs until March 31, 2029<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Summary<\/h2>\n

How to move is easy to decide. When ASC Farm Standard V1.1 comes out in November 2026, ask the Vietnamese processor you are trading with once which version it is guiding farms by. Next, when you receive a proposal claiming to be \"low-emission,\" ask in writing for the calculation boundary and the name of the verifier. If the counterpart stops there, it is not a raw material usable for disclosure. And since the five target communes are concentrated in old Dong Hai district, the quick way is to first take samples in small lots from this range and measure the granularity of traceability with the actual goods. Operations in Ca Mau run until the end of March 2029. Rather than going to buy after the brand is finished, inserting your own requirements into the process while it is being made gets your conditions accepted more easily.<\/p>\n

References: Th\u1ee7y s\u1ea3n Vi\u1ec7t Nam<\/a>\uff0fThuy san Viet Nam (April 10, 2026)<\/a>\uff0fASC International<\/a>\uff0fASC Japan<\/a>\uff0fTh\u01b0 vi\u1ec7n ph\u00e1p lu\u1eadt<\/a>\uff0fDiamond Online<\/a>\uff0fACCESS ONLINE<\/a><\/small><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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