Customs officials check the transportation of goods at Huu Nghi International Border Gate via a digital border gate platform. (Photo: VNA)
The proposal was raised at a working session between Vietnam’sMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development and China’s Guangxi province on May31 on measures to promote the trade exchange of farm produce between the twocountries.
Guangxi was the largest gateway for agricultural exports from Vietnamto China.
Statistics of the China Customs showed that around 350.4 million USDworth of agricultural products was imported to China via border gates withGuangxi province in the first four months of this year, accounting for 19.7% ofVietnam’s total agricultural exports to China.
According to Nanning Customs, the peak harvest seasons for fruitssuch as durian and mango are approaching with higher transportation demandacross borders, which is expected to put more pressure on customs clearance.
There have been signs of being overloaded at border gates recently.However, efforts are being made to facilitate trade during peak seasons,Nanning Customs said.
To enhance the customs clearance capacity, Nanning Customs saidthat a smart border gate control system should be piloted. Priority should alsobe given to create favourable conditions for trade between the two countries,the customs said, adding that the potential for cooperation in the trade ofagricultural products was huge.
Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development TranThanh Nam said that as congestion was happening at some border gates, it wasnecessary to increase information exchange between customs from the two sidesto speed up customs clearance.
Nam said that some agricultural products must be given priority incustoms clearance to prevent impacts on product quality.
The volume of goods transported across borders with Guangxi washuge, putting high pressure on customs clearance. Nam urged Nanning Customs toestablish a contact point so that the two sides could easily communicate andtimely handle problems at border gates.
Nam said that Guangxi had borders with four provinces of Vietnamwith nine border gates. However, only six of them allowed the import and exportof fruits and vegetables.
Nam urged Nanning Customs to allow fruits and vegetables to betraded via all nine border gates to ease the pressure on traditional gates andlower costs.
Regarding the smart border gate control system, Nam said that theidea was good, urging Nanning Customs to develop a specific project for pilotimplementation.
Nam also said that a business association should be establishedwhich would play role in connecting enterprises operating in logistics and intrade from both countries to facilitate the import-export activities.
Nam also proposed the development of cold storage or slaughtercentres in border areas to meet the consumption demand of the two sides.
Vietnam had many disease-free husbandry zones with productsexported to markets such as Japan, the Republic of Korea and Russia, Nam said,adding that the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development wouldwork with the Chinese side to open the door to Vietnamese husbandry products./.
VNA
