At the ceremony (Photo: VNA) After over five years of negotiations, the US Department ofAgriculture officially licensed the import of the fruit earlier this year,making it the seventh fresh fruit of Vietnam permitted to enter the market,following mango, longan, lychee, dragon fruit, rambutan, and star apple. The Chanh Thu Fruit Import - Export Group Joint Stock Company in Ben Tre's Cho Lach district is the one behind the shipment of the first pomelo batch.
Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Agriculture andRural Development Tran Thanh Nam said the US is a fastidious market, but itsdemand for fresh fruits remains tremendous.
He noted that for the coming into being of this first batch,growing and packing facilities had to prepare themselves and undergo many stagesof inspection by specialised agencies of both countries, so that theirproduction meets the requirements of quarantine and harmful organisms control,and safety and hygiene; complies with packaging regulations; and ensuresaccurate traceability.
A truck carrying the first batch of fresh pomelo from Ben Tre for export to the US (Photo: VNA) The province has so far been granted 25 planting area codes toexport green-skin pomelo to the US and the EU. The 11 codes serving the US marketspan 156.76ha and produce 3,135 tonnes on an annual basis./.
VNA
