Honduras exploring Taiwan, S. Korea markets for hard-hit white shrimp

Guatemala City, April 1 (CNA) Honduras is seeking to develop markets abroad, including Taiwan and South Korea, for its hard-hit whiteleg shrimp farming industry, Enrique Reina, foreign minister of the Central American country, said in an interview Monday.

"We are working with Taiwan to explore possibilities, and with South Korea to address sanitary issues to gain access. We are working to support the shrimp farming sector," Reina said in an interview with Honduran media Radio América.

According to Radio América, Reina just returned on March 28 from a visit to China to mark the second anniversary of the two countries establishing diplomatic ties.

Since Tegucigalpa shifted diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei in March 2023, data from the Asociación Nacional de Acuicultores de Honduras (ANDAH) shows that the Central American country' shrimp exports fell 67 percent from 20.7 million pounds in 2022 and 20.3 million in 2023, to just 6.6 million in 2024, Radio América reported.

In 2022, Taiwan represented the main market for Honduran shrimp, buying nearly 40 percent of exports from the Central American country, which enjoyed preferential, tariff-free treatment with favorable prices, thanks to a free trade agreement between the two countries at the time, according to Radio América.

Honduras and Taiwan signed a free trade agreement that came into effect in 2008 before Tegucigalpa notified Taipei through the World Trade Organization in June 2023 of its decision to withdraw from the bilateral deal, which formally ended in December that year.

Meanwhile, another Honduran media outlet La Prensa has reported that China only imported two containers of whiteleg shrimp in 2024 and another two containers this year.

La Prensa also cited data from the Honduran central bank -- Banco Central de Honduras -- which shows that the country had a trade deficit of more than US$2.5 billion with China in 2024, while talks on a free trade agreement between Beijing and Tegucigalpa that began in July 2023 have yet to reach a conclusion.