Tighten quality of fruit exported to China

Durian, banana, jackfruit, mango, dragon fruit all have violations

According to the Plant Protection Department (PPD-Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), every month, the General Department of Customs of China updates the notification of violations (if any) of Vietnamese agricultural products. Notably, recently, the number of violations of plant quarantine in the fruit group has increased abnormally. In particular, the most violations are the detection of pests on many types of fruit that are being exported in large quantities to the Chinese market such as jackfruit, dragon fruit, banana, mango. Durian is less. For these shipments, although they are not returned, the Chinese side requires cleaning and removal of harmful microorganisms, causing businesses to incur costs, slowing down customs clearance, and affecting the reputation of Vietnamese fruits.

Whether the fruit has any pests or diseases, and when is the best time to harvest durian or fruit in general, farmers and gardeners know best. But if they wait until the exact day to cut the fruit and the price drops, they will be forced to cut the fruit early and sell it first, so it is difficult to say that farmers keep the fruit to ensure quality if there are no sanctions to regulate it.

Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association

Speaking to Thanh Nien, Mr. Nguyen Quy Duong, Deputy Director of the Plant Protection Department, said that the fruit exported to China is most concentrated in the South and the Central Highlands. Notifications from China are accompanied by violation codes, and the Plant Protection Department can trace them to each locality. "Through tracing, 19 provinces and cities in the South and the Central Highlands have almost all violation codes. The pests detected on many fruit products are mealybugs and fruits such as dragon fruit, bananas, mangoes, durians, and jackfruit all have this species," Mr. Duong said.

Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said that violations of plant quarantine detected in key export fruit products pose many risks and losses when China applies stricter controls, even suspending imports. Not only violations of plant quarantine regulations, but also quality control of fruit exported to China, specifically durian, is an issue that cannot be ignored or taken lightly.

In the first 6 months of the year, durian exports to China reached 835 million USD, accounting for 95% of the total export value of this fruit. However, recently, the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association has received feedback that Vietnamese enterprises have been constantly complained by Chinese partners that durians have hard, bland flesh, or even are not ripe because the fruit was picked too early. In the same container, the quality of durian is not consistent, so enterprises have to lower the price to sell to partners for processing instead of spending more money to bring the goods back to the country.

Localities and businesses need to strictly control pests and the quality of fruits exported to China.

Just talk and no one listens!

Sharing with Thanh Nien , Ms. Tran Thi N., representative of a fruit exporting enterprise in Long An province, said that the situation of many shipments being warned of pests and uneven quality shows that the control process has signs of being lax because this problem did not occur before. In fact, if enterprises and gardeners strictly follow the pest prevention process from before harvesting to the preliminary processing and packaging stages, it is very difficult for mealybugs or harmful microorganisms to get in. The problem in the Chinese market recently is that due to the high demand and "attraction" of goods, many traders collect goods for export enterprises to chase after quantity, buy all the fruit, and cut the whole garden at the same time, causing the quality of old and young fruit to be uneven. As for enterprises with fixed purchasing contracts, they cut the fruit in batches and must have enough time to harvest, so the quality is consistent and guaranteed.

Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen emphasized that regarding the issue of durian being cut too young or fruits violating plant quarantine regulations, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued written recommendations and instructions to localities to rectify the situation. However, if we only stop at "raising the alarm" like that, without specific sanctions, it will be very difficult to completely resolve the problem.

For example, Thailand, when its durians occupied a "one-stop market" position in China, also encountered the same problem as Vietnam today. In recent years, especially when there was competition from Vietnamese durians, Thailand tightened the quality standards of exported durians. Not only did it set national standards, Thailand also applied fines, even criminal prosecution and imprisonment for serious violations, so that farmers and businesses would be aware of maintaining the reputation and brand of durians exported to China.

"Whether the fruit has any pests or diseases, or when durian or fruit in general is best harvested, farmers and gardeners know best. But if they wait until the exact day to cut the fruit and the price drops, they will be forced to cut the fruit early and sell it first, so it is difficult to say that farmers keep the fruit to ensure quality if there are no sanctions to regulate it," said Mr. Nguyen.

Mr. Nguyen Quy Duong said that in the near future, sanctions will be applied to codes of growing areas and packaging facilities that violate regulations discovered by domestic quarantine agencies. If during quarantine, it is discovered that codes continuously violate regulations and do not show any intention to correct them, exports will be resolutely suspended or temporarily stopped.

Also according to the Plant Protection Department, it is expected that at the end of August, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will chair a conference with representatives of provinces and cities in the South and Central Highlands to rectify and completely overcome violations of plant quarantine regulations according to the announcement from the General Administration of Customs of China as well as request localities to tighten management of growing area codes, packaging facilities and improve the quality of exported fruits.

Organize fruit week, expand consumption market in China

At the trade promotion conference organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade at the end of July, the representative of the Vietnam Trade Office in Beijing emphasized that in the context of China continuing to tighten management and control of epidemics and food safety, Vietnamese enterprises must focus on improving the quality of goods; strictly implementing food safety and quarantine measures. In particular, the Vietnam Trade Office in Beijing recommended that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, localities, and enterprises exporting fruits and agricultural products in general need to closely monitor food hygiene and safety standards, management of growing areas, packaging facilities, especially control of harmful microorganisms on products when in the past, Chinese customs continued to detect and warn of harmful organisms on fruit shipments exported from Vietnam.

Emphasizing that China is a very large import market for many Vietnamese fruits with strengths and is currently in the harvest season for many types of fruits such as longan, mango, durian... The Vietnamese Trade Office in Beijing recommends that enterprises and the Vietnamese Fruit and Vegetable Association coordinate with localities that are producing many types of fruits to study and organize a Vietnamese fruit week in China, especially focusing on areas with a lot of export potential and high consumption demand among Chinese people such as Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanghai...

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