Norway’s three largest salmon farmers said they are not selling salmon to China via Vietnam, after a crackdown on smuggling from authorities in the world’s second largest economy that is causing prices to increase.
Marine Harvest, Cermaq Group and Leroy Seafood Group all issued statements to Undercurrent News refuting any involvement in the trade, after Chinese authorities claimed to have cracked an operation which has smuggled salmon worth approximately CNY 620 million ($100m) into the country.
According to a spokesman for Marine Harvest, the world’s largest salmon farmer, which is planning to establish a processing plant in Shanghai this year, the company has not been involved in selling salmon to China via Vietnam.
“Since 2012 we have not been involved in shipping salmon through Vietnam, knowing that there was incidents of illegal export to China. This was a management decision valid for the whole group, based on our internal ethical principles,” the spokesperson told Undercurrent.
