Trading activity in Tan Thanh Border Gate, Lang Son province. (Photo: Vietnam+) The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam and Nanning Customs Department, Guangxi (China) agreed to research and bring the smart border gate systems into pilot operation, to create advantages for Vietnamese agricultural products when imported into China.
Open all pair of border-gates
On May 30, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam led a delegation from Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to attend a meeting with Xu Xianhui, Vice Chairman of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Wang Weibing, Head of Nanning Customs Department, Guangxi (China). The meeting discussed promoting import and export agricultural products between Vietnam and Guangxi.
According to number of Customs Department of China, this April, the border gates in Guangxi province imported nearly 2,5 billion renminbi (RMB) from Vietnamese agricultural products, increased by nearly 48% over the same period in 2022, accounting for nearly 20% total number of Vietnamese agricultural products imported into China.
Agricultural products commercial between China and Vietnam is growing strongly, in which Guangxi is China's largest gateway to import agricultural products.
Due to the peak export season of tropical fruits like durians, mangos, etc., customs clearance of agricultural products at border-gates shows signs of overload and congestion, exceeding the capability of the border gate areas.
Durian expected to be Vietnam’s leading export item to China. (Photo: Vietnam+) Wang Weibing stressed urgency to put the smart border-gate system into pilot operation.
Deputy Minister Nam expressed his approval of the proposal. However, he asked the Nanning Customs Department to develop a concrete plan as the custom tasks are shared between different units apart from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
In addition, Nam suggested some problems be discussed openly, such as standards for import and export agricultural products, customs clearance mechanism, QR code for quality assurance, among others.
Prioritized customs clearance for certain agricultural products, whose quality is greatly affected if customs clearance is delayed, was also put on the table.
Currently, Guangxi shares a boundary with four Vietnamese provinces with nine pairs of border gates. However, only six of them are allowed to import and export vegetables. To mitigate congestion, Nam suggested Nanning Customs Department review and approve trading activities through all nine border gates.
Setting up cold store systems, abattoirs in border areas.
In order to facilitate trade in agricultural products both through landway and seaway, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam suggested establishing the Vietnam - Guangxi Agricultural Product Business Association.
Delegation from Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development meets with Nanning Customs Department in China’s Guangxi province. (Photo: Vietnam+) Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam also proposed the establishment of Vietnam-China business chain in the field of logistics, especially cold chains, under the control of authorities from two countries.
He also mentioned an idea of setting up cold storages or abattoirs in border areas to meet consumption needs of the two countries.
Deputy Minister Nam suggested that the Chinese Customs Department complete required procedures to sign a new protocol on seafood import-export and approve lists of enterprises licensed to import and export./.
