According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), in 2022, the ministry and the GACC signed five protocols requiring plant quarantine for agricultural products, including durian, banana, passion fruit, sweet potato, and edible bird's nest. This has opened up great opportunities for Vietnamese agricultural products to be exported to China. However, opportunities always come with challenges when the Chinese market is increasingly tightening food quality and safety.
Vietnamese enterprises must register for export lists with the competent authorities of China.
Mr. Ngo Xuan Nam, Deputy Director of the SPS Vietnam Office, said that according to the provisions of China's decrees 248 and 249, there are 18 groups of high-risk goods that require exporters to register directly with competent authorities of China. For the remaining groups, enterprises can register through the website of the GACC or entrust.
As a result, by December 5, the GACC had granted 2,426 product codes to about 2,000 Vietnamese enterprises, a relatively high figure compared to other countries in the region, according to Mr. Nam.
“Of the 2,426 product codes, 1,236 codes (accounting for more than 50 percent) are registered through the competent authorities, while 1,190 are registered and declared by enterprises themselves through the online registration system of GACC. Regarding the product category, seafood is the most with 802 codes, followed by some products, such as cashew nuts, coffee, vegetable oil, and flour. Functional food is the least," said Mr. Nam.
Meanwhile, Dr. Phan Thi Thu Hien, a representative of the Department of Plant Protection, said that Vietnam has seven traditional export fruits, including mango, dragon fruit, longan, litchi, watermelon, rambutan, and jackfruit, and five fruits exported in the form of signing the protocol, namely mangosteen, grass jelly, durian, banana, and sweet potato, that are allowed to be exported to the Chinese market. However, at present, China is no longer an unfastidious market, and there are many changes.
Specifically, China requires strict control of goods crossing the border, especially in the form of border trade and unofficial quota export. Moreover, China also requires negotiations to open the door for each type of product and re-sign the export protocol for eight traditional fruits with the same management form as for mangosteen and durian, requiring the declaration of growing area and packing facility codes.
Vietnam is temporarily exporting passion fruit and fresh chili. The products that are continuing to be negotiated to open the market are pomelo, custard apple, coconut, bell fruit, and lime. Export shipments must have a phytosanitary certificate and must not be contaminated with plant quarantine objects of China.