Vietnamese cashew brand affected by increased imports of poor quality cashew nuts

SGGPO April 19, 2023 9:40 PM

The import quantity in 2022 is larger than the total raw cashew output produced by Vietnam in 1 year. Therefore, businesses no longer process raw cashews into cashew nuts as before.

On the afternoon of April 19, at the meeting between the leaders of the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and associations - enterprises, the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) informed that domestic cashew nuts are facing difficulties due to the large amount of cashew nuts imported into Vietnam. Therefore, the association recommended that ministries and branches need to introduce policies for the sustainable development of the Vietnamese cashew brand.

Mr. Bach Khanh Nhut, Vice President of Vinacas, spoke at the conference.

According to Vinacas, in the first two months of the year, Vietnam imported more than 10,158 tons of cashew nuts, equivalent to nearly 44,000 tons of raw cashew nuts. In 2022, according to data from the General Department of Customs, 78,583 tons of cashew nuts were imported into Vietnam, equivalent to nearly 350,000 tons of raw cashew nuts; this quantity is larger than the total raw cashew output produced by Vietnam in 1 year.

Mr. Bach Khanh Nhut, Vice President of Vinacas, said that currently, cashew growing countries in Africa and Cambodia are developing cashew processing industry, gradually reducing the export of raw cashews. Therefore, this country has introduced many preferential and supportive policies to attract investment in cashew processing factories. At the same time, this country closely monitors the export price of raw cashews and imposes high export tax. In contrast, exported cashew nuts are tax-free. Meanwhile, both raw cashews and cashew nuts when imported into Vietnam for processing and export are exempted from tax by Vietnam. This will create conditions for cashew nuts to increase import output into Vietnam.

View of VCCI conference with associations - businesses

Since then, many Vietnamese businesses only need to import cashew nuts for packaging and export to other countries. In the opposite direction, businesses no longer process raw cashew nuts into cashew nuts as before. On the other hand, imported cashew nuts are of low quality, so when exported, the quality also decreases, affecting the Vietnamese cashew brand in the international market.

Due to the seriousness of this problem, Vinacas proposed that the Ministry of Industry and Trade preside over and work with relevant ministries and branches to support finding solutions and submit them to the Government for permission to implement them in order to soon create fairness in processing and trading cashew nuts in the international market.

Vinacas also proposed to negotiate and sign bilateral agreements with each country on import and export tax exemption for each other's goods, possibly exempting countries exporting raw cashew nuts to Vietnam. Conversely, if this country does not agree to exempt raw cashew nut export tax, Vietnam will not exempt import tax on imported cashew nuts; apply a tax rate of 25% to peeled cashew nuts; apply a minimum import price to imported cashew nuts to Vietnam.

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