Vietnamese pomelo gets green light to enter US market

Vietnamese pomelo has been licenced to be exported to the US. (Photo: Ministry of Industry and Trade)

Hanoi (VNA) – After overfive years of negotiations, the US Department of Agriculture has officiallylicensed the import of fresh pomelo from Vietnam, an official has said.

Pomelo is the seventh fresh fruit ofVietnam to be licensed to enter the US market, following mango, longan, lychee,dragon fruit, rambutan, and star apple, Hoang Trung, Director of the PlantProtection Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, tolda meeting in Hanoi on October 17.

The US has great demand for fruit, upto 12 million tonnes each year. Its domestic production has met just 70% of thedemand while the remaining 30%, equivalent to 3.6 million tonnes, is imported.

Vietnamese and US officials at the meeting to announce the US's requirements for pomelo import from Vietnam on October 17. (Photo: VNA)

Meanwhile, Vietnam is home to 105,400ha of land under pomelo with diversevarieties, generating nearly 905,000 tonnes of fruit. The Mekong Delta alonehouses about 32,000ha with an output of some 369,000 tonnes.

This creates considerable room and agreat opportunity for Vietnamese fruits, including pomelo, to access the USmarket, he noted.

To export pomelo to the US, the PlantProtection Department will work with relevant parties to carry out concertedmeasures, especially training farmers and exporting companies in the US’simport requirements. It will also maintain the granting of production unitcodes and strictly monitor pest contamination in fruit.

All pomelo batches to be shipped tothe US will be irradiated at the US-recognised irradiation establishments underthe supervision of the US Animal and PlantHealth Inspection Service and the Plant Protection Department, Trungadded./.

VNA