Fruit and vegetable export turnover experienced a year on year fall of 9.3 percent to 879 million USD in the first quarter of the year. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Fruit and vegetable export turnover experienced a yearon year fall of 9.3 percent to 879 million USD in the first quarter of theyear, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s AgroProcessing and Market Development Authority.
The decline was largely attributed to the drop of 14.7 percent in export of theproducts to China, a market which accounts for 74 percent of Vietnamese fruitand vegetable shipments. Demand in the country slid during January-February asseveral types of fruit are harvested at the same time in both countries.
Apart from China, shipments to Southeast Asian countries fell 24.7 percent yearon year to 21.21 million USD in the first three months of the year.
In contrast, strong export growth was seen in Italy (up 389 percent to 2.44million USD), Indonesia (up 89.4 percent to 0.16 million USD), Kuwait (up 87.3percent to 0.83 million USD), Australia (up 51.6 percent to 6.41 million USD),the EU (up 44.21 percent to 21.46 million USD), and the Republic of Korea (up41.7 percent to 18.66 million USD).
Although China is the largest importer of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables,exports to the country have entailed great risks because most of the goods areexported via unofficial channels with unstable consumption markets.
Experts said Chinese consumers no longer prioritise good prices, but set highrequirements for food quality and origin. Therefore, Vietnamese businessesshould invest heavily in production techniques and advanced technologies forprocessing and preservation to improve product quality. Besides, export itemsmust have quarantine certification and traceable origins while their packages needChinese language and quality standards on the labels.
According to Shi Xinbiao, Director of Liaocheng Xinghao IM & ExportCo.,Ltd, China’s demands for fruit and vegetable imports will slow in the next 10years; however, the market will have stricter food safety requirements. AllVietnamese farm produce shipped to the country must show sufficient quarantinecertification and information related to products’ origin and safety.
Meanwhile, the General Department of Vietnam Customs stressed that if domesticfirms continue exporting through unofficial channels, Vietnamese products willnever gain a foothold in the Chinese market. In addition, the companies willsuffer a lot of losses due to loose contracts with Chinese partners.-VNA
VNA
