The record in exporting of agricultural products 2018

	Enterprises take the opportunity to export agricultural products to the EU
	Improvement of food safety standards is a key for exports of agricultural products
	The EVFTA brings golden opportunity for Vietnamese agricultural products and foods

Export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products 2018 will reach the target of over 40 billion USD. Source: Internet

The stacked difficulties

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the context of 2018 is very volatile, typically the US-China trade war; the increase of protectionism through standards of food quality and safety management of Vietnam's major agricultural markets including the US, EU, China, Japan, Korea ... for imported agricultural products. The world agricultural market in 2018 recorded a sharp decline in prices of industrial crops in the context of fierce competition among exporting countries, causing a rapid increase in supply while the demand decreased or grew slowly.

It‘s not only difficult about the price but also the demand, because the major export markets of Vietnam set increasingly strict technical standards for imported agricultural products. Specifically, the Chinese market enhanced not only the quality standards of imported agricultural products, but also the management and border trade.

The EU market still kept in place the yellow card warning for exploited seafood imported from Vietnam, and also drafted new regulations on substances used on plant breeding products.

Meanwhile, the US market continues to maintain and increase protection measures through the imposition of anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese seafood products; continuing the inspection program for catfish under the Agricultural Bill (Farm Bill); are strongly implementing the Lacey Act for timber and wood products.

In addition, in 2018, the Japanese and Korean markets also regularly reviewed and adjusted the regulations on food safety and increased the frequency of checking imported agricultural and fishery products, causing disadvantages for Vietnam's export progress to these markets.

Overcoming difficulties to get the record

However, MARD stated: Overcoming difficulties, the export turnover of agriculture, forestry and fishery in general in 11 months of 2018 reached $ 36.3 billion, up 9.1% compared to the same period in 2017. For the whole year, it is expected this figure will be over 40 billion USD. This is a record number for the agricultural sector in Vietnam, affirming its position as a powerhouse for agricultural exports in the world (ranked 15th and has exported to more than 180 countries and territories in the world).

The representative of MARD stated: One of the highlights of agricultural, forestry and fishery exports in 2018 is the export market share is maintained, strengthened and expanded. There are 5 main export markets for agricultural, forestry and fishery products such as China, the US, Japan, ASEAN and South Korea, that accounted for 22.9% of the market share (up 3.6% compared to 2017); 17.9% (up 9.4%); 19.1% (up 7.1%); 10.64% (up 11.0%) and 6.9% (up 29.4%), respectively. The emerging markets, niche markets (Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe) are well selected for development, complementary to key markets.

Besides, a highlight that must be mentioned is the increase in export value of key products, especially rice, vegetables, pangasius, wood and forestry products. Specifically: For rice, the volume of exported rice in 11 months of 2018 was estimated at 5.7 million tons, worth $ 2.9 billion, up 5.6% in volume and 17.7% in value compared to same period 2017. Followed by fruits and vegetables with export value of 11 months of 2018, estimated to reach 3.5 billion USD, up 11.6% over the same period in 2017...

Assessing the achieved results in 2018, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said that: Such achievements is thanks to the joining together of political system, from farmers to businesses and cooperatives. ... Vietnam has actively improved the quality of many agricultural products according to international standards step by step. On the other hand, Vietnam has also actively exchanged and negotiated to remove technical and commercial barriers to major markets such as the EU, US and China.

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Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong stated: In the coming time, the industry needs to continue promoting the reorganization of production in line with the value chain, according to the concentrated commodity production areas; focusing on encouraging product processing to enhance the added value of commodity agricultural products. In particular, the industry needs to organize and build links from production to processing, and for consumption of products the core is the subjects: Farmers, cooperatives, enterprises; promoting the construction and branding of each commodity agricultural product.

“The overall objective of the sector restructuring is to build smart agriculture, international integration, climate change adaptation, increase of added value and sustainable development in connection with construction of new prosperous and modern countryside,” Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong emphasized.