A festive ceremony took place in the Guangxi Nanning Agricultural Trade Center on November 20th to celebrate the "Sino-Thai Fruit Trade Negotiations and Policy Announcement". The ceremony was organized by the Special Committee for Refrigerated Distribution, which is part of the China Chamber of Commerce of I/E of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-products (CFNA), as well as the Thai Trade Association for Sustainable Development of Agriculture (CASA).
The ceremony celebrated the arrival of the first container of Thai fruit that was authenticated by the Agricultural Grading Quality Center (AGQC). The fruit also featured CASA QR-codes that allow clients to trace the origin of the fruit and every step in the distribution process. The fruit in this container will continue to east China and enter the market there. This is the first time Thai fruit has entered China since the implementation of new export standards in Thailand.
The agricultural trade between China and Thailand rapidly developed in the past few years, and this is particularly true for the fruit trade. China imported 1.88 billion USD worth of fruit from Thailand in 2018, which is an increase of 70% in comparison with the previous year. This year the import value already reached 2.78 billion USD in the period from January until September. That is an increase of 67% in comparison with the same period last year. Chinese market demand for fresh produce grows quickly, but Chinese consumers also have increasingly high standards for food safety and product quality.
The AGQC supports and develops product quality standards for the agricultural industry in Thailand. The AGQC authentication helps to maintain international standards of product quality. In order to obtain AGQC authentication, agricultural products require a QR-code that allows clients to track every step of the distribution process and identify all the relevant intermediaries such as producers and retailers.
Source: gxnews.com