A hiccup for Australian citrus exports to Vietnam is not enough to dampen the spirits of those in the industry, and ‘everyone is in the same boat’ according to those affected by the news. Exporters were surprised to learn of restrictions to freight from the Eastern Seaboard, impacting the $40 million export industry.
The first two imports issued have a new requirement that all fruit be subject to irradiation or cold treatment, at less than 3 degrees centigrade for 20 days, which was not the understanding of exporters. “The pre-treatment will add at least $2,000 to the cost of each shipping container, but at the end of the day we’re still back in business, and we’ll start packing very soon,” said Paul Scheffer, of Delica Global. The important thing was being able to start the process, according to him.
Customers of another exporter, Valley Fresh, had not yet seen official import permits, but Ryan Smith said that exports would go ahead. “I have definite interest from Vietnam customers for citrus,” he added.
Cold treatment should be 'expected' for exports
There are only a certain number of facilities available to do the pre-cooling treatment that will now be required, which will contribute to the cost, Mr Scheffer confirmed. “The market price is determined by a range of factors, but we’ve communicated with our customers and said our price will have to be a little bit higher than anticipated.” Cold treatment should be the presumption on all exports moving forward, Mr Schaeffer said. "More markets are cold treatment markets now, including Japan, Taiwan and Korea."
The delayed shipping may mean that Australian fruit is sold in Vietnam at exactly the same time as fruit from China, but this would not significantly impact prices, according to Mr Smith. “There’s still plenty of the season to go. If anything we’ll be competing with China for class one fruit, but Vietnam is already a class one fruit market. Vietnam will have to pay quite good prices anyway.”
Because of the different size accepted, Mr Scheffer said he is not overly concerned that Australian fruit will be competing with class one fruit from China.
Three weeks after the Vietnam market was reopened for citrus and table grapes, the first two permits issued to importers "are inconsistent with agreed protocol import conditions," according to a statement issued by the Department of Agriculture on its MiCOR website. Urgent talks between Australian and Vietnamese authorities are ongoing, and a resolution is expected with the return of the Australian delegation late next week. It was already known that Western Australian exports would have to go by sea freight.
"The presumption was overnight freight by air. We are now seeing a translation of the permit that's written in Vietnamese, and to our knowledge the Australians are working hard to resolve misunderstandings," Citrus Australia Market Access Manager David Daniels said. Citrus fruit is not usually damaged by sea freight, according to him.
Table grapes still awaiting response
The other export affected by the restrictions, table grapes, will likely have to prepare for cold treatment requirements. “Only two import permits have so far been issued and the Australian government officials are working hard to resolve the misunderstandings,” said Jeff Scott, CEO of the Australian Table Grape Association. “We will know more when they return from Vietnam late next week.”
The Australian Horticultural Exporters Association also said there were ‘irregularities’ in the permits issued, and warned exporters that there were counterfeit permits that may have been issued before the first two real ones on August 1.