Vietnamese agricultural products lose billions of dollars from the US market; EC delays inspection deadline against IUU fishing

In May 2023, fruit and vegetable exports flourished; Americans tightened their purse strings, Vietnamese agricultural products lost billions of dollars; EC postponed the inspection deadline for anti-IUU fishing in Vietnam... are the highlights in the export news bulletin on May 26-28.

Xuất khẩu ngày 26-28/5: Nông sản Việt hụt thu hàng tỷ USD từ thị trường Mỹ; EC lùi thời hạn thanh tra chống khai thác IUU

In the first 5 months of 2023, fruit and vegetable exports reached over 1.8 billion USD. (Source: Industry and Trade Newspaper)

May 5, 2023, fruit and vegetable exports flourish

According to a preliminary report from the General Department of Customs, in May 2023, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports reached 466 million USD, up 80.6% over the same period last year. The cumulative figure for the first 5 months of this year reached over 1.8 billion USD, up nearly 29% over the same period last year.

According to the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association (Vinafruit), in the TOP 10 fruit and vegetable export markets, China, the US, the Netherlands, and Malaysia have the strongest growth. China alone bought 805 million USD worth of fruit and vegetables from Vietnam, accounting for 59% of the market share (last year it was 53%).

In terms of products, by the end of April 2023, the export value of dragon fruit and durian was equivalent to about 23% of the total export turnover of the entire fruit and vegetable industry. However, dragon fruit exports are currently slowing down due to China's harvest season and low consumption.

According to export enterprises, in the first months of the year, despite competition with goods from Thailand, Cambodia, and the Philippines, Vietnam's fruit export turnover still made a breakthrough. For example, at Vina T&T Import Export Company, while turnover from the US and Canadian markets decreased, China was the "support" that helped export activities grow by 20% in sales in the first 4 months of 2023.

Export prospects for the second half of the year will be brighter as Vietnamese agricultural products are being favored by many countries. Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of Vinafruit, commented that the forecast for fruit and vegetable exports in the coming months will continue to be positive as the fruit season begins, especially lychee, which is in full swing in June and July.

In addition, durian has the opportunity to become a billion-dollar commodity as more growing areas have been granted export codes to China. It is forecasted that Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports this year could reach the 4 billion USD mark.

Americans tighten their purse strings, Vietnamese agricultural products lose billions of dollars

The US is considered a potential market for Vietnam’s agricultural, forestry and fishery exports. In recent years, the export turnover of key agricultural products to this market has increased sharply.

In 2020-2022, the US will become the largest customer of Vietnamese agricultural products. The US market accounts for 26.7%, 27.5% and 25% of the total export turnover of the entire agricultural sector during this period, respectively.

The latest report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shows that in the first four months of this year, China, the US and Japan continued to be the three largest export markets for agricultural, forestry and fishery products of our country. However, the export value to China accounted for 20.9%, surpassing the US to become the largest customer of Vietnamese agricultural, forestry and fishery products.

With 18.9%, the US fell to second place, followed by Japan, accounting for 8.1% of Vietnam's total agricultural, forestry and fishery export value.

In the first four months of this year, agricultural, forestry and fishery exports to the US fell sharply by 40.5%. Compared to the same period last year, this strength of Vietnam "lost" about 1.84 billion USD.

Preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs show that most of the key export items to the US market recorded negative growth. Specifically, seafood exports decreased by 51.6%, vegetables and fruits decreased by 16.4%, cashew nuts decreased by 13.5%, wood and wood products decreased by 39.5%, tea decreased by 42.8%, rubber decreased by 64.7%, pepper decreased by 37.2% compared to the same period in 2022.

By the end of April 2023, only rice and coffee exports to the US recorded positive growth of 3.9% and 16.5%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. However, the export turnover of these two items is still quite modest in the total export value of agricultural, forestry and fishery products to the US.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, high inflation in some countries around the world , including the US market, has caused consumers to tighten spending, reducing consumer demand. Therefore, agricultural, forestry and fishery exports to this market have decreased sharply.

EC postpones inspection against IUU fishing in Vietnam

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that as planned, a working delegation from the European Commission (EC) is expected to visit Vietnam to inspect the situation and results of the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing at the end of May 2023.

EC postpones inspection of anti-IUU fishing in Vietnam until October 2023. (Source: VNE)

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued Decision No. 1568/QD-BNN-TCTS dated April 18, 2023 approving the Master Plan and plan to welcome and work with the 4th EC inspection delegation on combating IUU fishing.

However, the EC Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG-MARE) has officially announced a request to postpone the fourth IUU inspection mission to October 2023. DG-MARE hopes to receive positive results and significant progress on the implementation of the recommendations by October 2023 before the mission's fourth inspection.

The content of this inspection is to evaluate the implementation results of the EC's recommendations on combating IUU fishing; focusing on the control of fishing vessels violating foreign waters, control of fishing vessels entering and leaving ports and operating at sea, control of imported raw materials and traceability of aquatic products from exploitation.

According to the leader of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in response to information from the EC, the Ministry has notified and requested the People's Committees of 28 coastal provinces and centrally-run cities, and the Ministries assigned by the Prime Minister to combat IUU fishing to continue to strengthen leadership, direction, and synchronously and effectively implement the instructions of the Standing Secretariat and the Prime Minister.

In particular, focusing on drastically implementing Directives and Telegrams, especially Decision No. 81/QD-TTg dated February 13, 2023 of the Prime Minister on the Action Plan against IUU fishing, preparing to work with the 4th EC inspection delegation and Telegram No. 265/CD-TTg dated April 17, 2023 of the Prime Minister on focusing on removing difficulties and obstacles to promote production and consumption of agricultural products; implementing 3 National Target Programs; combating IUU fishing...

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