Free trade deals facilitate fruit and vegetable exports: insiders

Processing dragon fruits for export (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Free trade agreements are opening the doors for Vietnamese fruit and vegetable firms to increase export revenue this year, according to the Vietnam Fruit & Vegetables Association (VinaFruit).

With the effectiveness of the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), more than 94 percent of the 547 tax lines for vegetables, fruits and products from vegetables and fruits will have the tax rate of zero percent.

There will be more market access advantages for many products that are the strengths of Vietnam such as lychee, longan, rambutan, dragon fruit, pineapple and melon in the context of competitors such as Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia, which have no FTAs with the UK on tropical fruits.

Noting that requirements in quality, food safety, quarantine and origin are becoming higher in foreign markets, Nguyen Thanh Binh, VinaFruit Chairman, held that it is necessary to strengthen linkages in all stages from production, processing, storage and selling to connections among localities and regions, creating a sustainable and effective value chain.

He said that localities and businesses should focus on large-scale production and the application of high technology as well as good production practices such as VietGAP and Global GAP, thus increasing the organic percentage in farm produce and providing a large volume of high quality materials for processing and exporting.

Meanwhile, authorised agencies should provide market information and help enhance producers and businesses’ awareness to minimise problems and risks when engaging in fruit and vegetable production and import activities, he said.

Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development showed that fruit and vegetable exports in the first four months of this year hit 1.35 billion USD, up 9.5 percent year on year.

China was the largest market of Vietnamese fruit and vegetable products in the first quarter of 2021 with 64.7 percent of the market share.

From the beginning of 2021, Vietnam has increased exports to other potential markets such as Egypt, Kuwait, Ukraine and Senegal. Particularly,  fruit and vegetable export revenue to Ukraine rose 7 times in the period, making it a promising market in this year and beyond./.

VNA