Exports of Vietnamese agricultural products to China face difficulties

Exports of Vietnamese agricultural products via border gates to China are facing numerous difficulti…

Exports of Vietnamese agricultural products via border gates to China are facing numerous difficulties. Ministries, localities and branches from the two countries are urged to make greater efforts in facilitating the clearance of these products, senior officials have said.

Online newspaper congthuong.vn cited Luong Trong Quynh, vice chairman of the Lang Son People's Committee, as saying that China examined all of Viet Nam's fruit shipments to the country. That would result in longer customs clearance time for Vietnamese fruit than those of other countries.

China had also strengthened the application of standards on origin and label quarantine while strictly controlling quality standards and food hygiene and safety for farm produce and fresh fruit and vegetables imported from Viet Nam. Meanwhile, many fruits of Viet Nam such as passion fruit, durian and custard apple were yet to be permitted for export to China, Quynh said.

Most businesses had failed to learn the latest information on Chinese export conditions such as those in quarantine and traceability, so they had encountered numerous difficulties in customs clearance. Therefore, localities that shared border gates with China petitioned ministries and branches to offer local businesses effective guidance in production so that their goods would meet requirements from the neighbouring country and customs clearance for these products would be faster, he said.

According to Do Van Duy, Director of Lao Cai Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province exported 760,000 tonnes of agricultural products via border gates to China for US$690 million over the past seven months of 2021. In which, dragon fruit saw the highest export value with $444 million, followed by mango with $120 million and watermelon with $28 million.

Despite these encouraging figures, import-export activities with China through the province’s border gates faced certain difficulties. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only Chinese drivers were allowed by the Chinese side to transport goods. That caused difficulties in trade activities via the province’s two international border gates, resulting in modest transport productivity and slow clearance of goods, Duy told a virtual conference held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) this week.