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China applies stricter import regulations and standards with Vietnamese agricultural products. Photo: N.Thanh.

More and more difficult

In the past few months, talking about exporting agricultural products to China, Vietnam has received a lot of negative information.

Typically, recently, Lang Son Provincial People's Committee issued a document to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to remove obstacles in exporting black jelly. The document of Lang Son Provincial People's Committee clearly stated, from May 1, 2018, the Chinese side has applied quality management standards and traced the origin of agricultural products, fruits, and fruit products. Chinese enterprises applying for importing agricultural products and fruits from Vietnam and Thailand must have a permit from the authorities with full product information, origin, packing name or code. In addition to not registering the code to export to the Chinese market, Vietnam’s black heather item has not received information on China's standards for quarantine requirements.

At the end of January last year, according to information from the Vietnam Trade Office in Nanning and Guangxi, in order to ensure hygiene and safety from diseases, Quang Tay Customs officially requested enterprises to import fruits. The area changed the cushioning and packing materials, i.e., watermelon linings with non-harmful materials, an dno infectious organisms from 5/2019. Previously, Vietnam mainly used rice straw. Regarding traceability regulations, the Ministry of Industry and Trade also gave information that since May 5/2018, China has strengthened its management and traceability requirements for imported fruits in general through regulations requiring import enterprises in China to proceed for registering the sample of originating stamps at China Customs and affix this label on products / package of imported fruit. In fact, this is not a new regulation as they are pre-existing regulations, consistent with international practices, which have not been strictly implemented before. Currently, in response to consumer demand, Chinese authorities have taken this more seriously.

Talking about the difficulty of exporting agricultural products to China, it would be an insufficiency to not mention rice. From 1/7/2018, import tax on all kinds of rice imported from Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, to the Chinese market was at 40%-50% (particularly the import tax is 5%). Notably, from mid-2019, China will further control the import of rice from Vietnam and ASEAN countries. Specifically, Vietnamese rice wants to enter this market to ensure that the sterilization time is 120 hours; Test samples must be taken to Chinese testing facilities...

Around the story of exporting agricultural products to China, Dr. Vo Tri Thanh - Director of the Institute for Brand Strategy and Competition gave his insights: China is a very important market for the production and export of Vietnamese agricultural products, but this is also considered a "double-edged sword. The situation of Chinese traders importing goods across borders is easy for them to calculate product quality. This will not create motivation for Vietnamese enterprises to change, or for meeting the high standards of other fastidious markets and higher class requirements in China.”

Promoting main export

Talking about the weaknesses and challenges of Vietnamese agricultural products when exporting to China, Industry and Trade Information Center (Ministry of Industry and Trade) as well as the local Department of Industry and Trade (Ministry of Industry and Trade) made an assessment: Vietnamese agricultural exporters still do not understand the Chinese consumer market. Although Vietnam enterprises regularly trade with the Chinese market, Vietnamese enterprises receive limited information about market demand, especially now China has become a market with high demands on product quality. These two ministerial units make recommendations that when exporting goods to China, it is necessary to enhance the application of VietGap and GlobalGap production models to fully meet the strict regulations on testing and quarantine requirements of the Chinese government. In addition, before exporting, enterprises need to clearly classify the quality and specifications of each specific kind of goods; Research packaging design specifically for the Chinese market, which should prioritize the information on packaging in Chinese.

Dr. Vo Tri Thanh further analyzed: Vietnamese enterprises are still weak in utilizing Chinese distribution channels. “We have not connected well with large Chinese distribution companies and corporations, so Vietnamese products in these supermarkets are very few. For example, in Beijing, at supermarket shelves, Thai rice occupies an overwhelming position compared to Vietnamese rice. The role of leading enterprises in leading export of agricultural products is very important. In order to solve the fundamental problem related to the Chinese market, large enterprises should not only focus on building domestic distribution channels, but also have to stand out with other businesses to bridge Vietnamese agricultural products outside the country,” Dr. Vo Tri Thanh said.

Regarding the export of agricultural products to China, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Toan-Acting Director of the Agricultural Products Processing and Development Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) said: In 2018, MARD has cooperated with ministries and related industries to solve many problems related to border, production and standards for agricultural products imports and exports between Vietnam and China. “When I do business through quota, there is still a problem with border goods. Vietnam must look to the long term to earn new commerce, which is sustainable, "said Toan.

Lang Son Province: Agricultural products are difficult to be exported because of traceability VCN - There are some of Vietnam’s fruit exports to the Chinese market facing difficulty relating to traceability ...

Some experts point out that with the development of e-commerce today, Vietnamese enterprises can cooperate with famous Chinese e-commerce enterprises to open online stores and provide agricultural products for new supermarkets. In terms of macro management, state management agencies need to actively study the market, grasp the situation and development trend of the Chinese market; formulating and disseminating policies to guide agricultural production...