During the recent official visit to China by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, 13 documents were signed by agencies of the two sides; including the Protocol on phytosanitary requirements for fresh bananas exported from Vietnam to China.
With the above Protocol, China agrees to allow Vietnam’s fresh bananas to be officially exported to this country, thereby helping to increase added value for banana farmers and will be a big step in the professional development. industrialization of fresh banana production in Vietnam. This is also an important legal basis to help producers feel secure towards investing in sustainable development on a larger scale in the near future.
In addition, the Protocol with specific regulations is also meant to create a “push” to help us change the thinking of agricultural production. When Vietnam’s agricultural products are branded and officially exported to many different markets, including a large market like China, we are forced to produce according to standards.
Specifically, the content of the Protocol contains 8 articles, of which Article 2 stipulates: All banana growing areas and establishments exporting bananas to China must register with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), approved by this Ministry and the General Administration of Customs of China. Registration information includes names, addresses and codes so that when any product is found that does not comply with the requirements of this Protocol, it can be accurately traced.
Before exporting, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development must send to the General Administration of Customs of China a list of registrations for approval and regular updates. This list will be published on the official website of the General Administration of Customs of China.
As explained by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan, meeting the standards of the banana export market under the recently signed Protocol will open up many opportunities. First of all, instead of trading, we switched to the form of cooperation for export, with the control of both sides.
If before it was only controlled in Vietnam, then it was checked again when going to the border gate, now if you want to export bananas to China, you must have the inspection in the spirit of the Protocol as well as the General Department of Customs. China. Thus, when we export bananas to the border gate, it will reduce the clearance time, the frequency of inspection, and avoid the congestion of agricultural products, including bananas.
Trucks carrying the first shipment of durians exported by official route to China on September 17. (Photo: People’s Newspaper).
With the thinking of standardizing the market and standardizing the banana industry, we will be able to access other markets, besides, change the mindset from business trade to an export mindset for a whole country. fresh banana industry. When the export of bananas to the Chinese market is standardized, Vietnam’s banana brand will be raised and then the income of farmers and banana growers will be improved and most importantly here reduce market risk.
In fact, in recent years, in many places, farmers have suffered losses and losses due to agricultural production following the movement and not following standards, resulting in products not meeting the requirements of official export.
Therefore, in the media, there is often a situation of vehicles carrying Vietnamese agricultural products being congested, even some have to turn around or dump agricultural products due to damage at the northern border gates.
Many reasons lead to this situation, including the problem that traders are used to doing business in the form of small-scale exports, handing over goods at the border gate between the two countries, leading to unstable orders. At the same time, farmers do not have information about the market, so there are times when the production is massive, supply exceeds demand, leading to difficulties in consumption.
According to experts, in order to contribute to solving the situation, we must change the mindset of production according to standards to move towards official export to different markets around the world. When products meet official export standards, export orders are stable, market information is transparent, farmers will know how to adjust their production plans accordingly, thereby minimizing the phenomenon of agricultural products. dumped in the field or at the border gate.
Leaders of the Agriculture and Rural Development sector said that, after bananas, relevant ministries and branches will continue to develop production projects for each type of agricultural product for each different market, helping farmers to approach, gradually familiarize themselves with and develop new products. manufactured according to set standards and regulations.
According to the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), in the first nine months of 2022, Vietnam’s total fruit and vegetable export turnover reached 2.4 billion USD. Notably, exports of bananas and durians increased in value in the first eight months of the year, mainly to China. Statistics from the General Department of Customs show that in the first 8 months of 2022, banana export value reached 237 million USD, up 28% over the same period in 2021.
Vietnam is geographically closer to China than other countries, which is a favorable factor. However, this market of 1.4 billion people is no longer “easy” as before, imported agricultural products must meet strict requirements and the above Protocol is an example.
Up to now, there are 11 kinds of Vietnamese fruits that have been officially exported to China, including: dragon fruit, watermelon, lychee, longan, banana, mango, jackfruit, rambutan, mangosteen, passion fruit, durian. Among them, Vietnam and China have signed 4 protocols on exporting to China with mangosteen, durian, passion fruit and banana.
In mid-September, 20 consignments (about 25 tons/ton) of durian from Dak Lak growers set out to export through official channels to China. This is the first durian export shipment under the protocol signed between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the General Administration of Customs of China. A journey through four years of serious negotiation and preparation from the central to the local.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the country’s banana production is about 2.1 million tons/year. Recently, this is also a major export item of Vietnam after dragon fruit and mango. Currently, the two sides are negotiating to sign the export of sweet potatoes and fresh pomelos to China.
It is hoped that the “pushs” of official export will contribute to helping us change the mindset of agricultural production more strongly, creating more quality and safe agricultural products to serve the domestic market and export. to various markets around the world.
Author: Nguyen Duong is a reporter for Dan Tri newspaper. He entered the journalism profession in 2010, currently working as a reporter in the fields of internal affairs, security and defense.
Nguyen Duong – Source: Dan Tri Newspaper
