Vietnam will further work with the US to mitigate challenges related to its export of fresh fruits to the latter, which has recently been disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vietnam will further work with the US to mitigate challenges related to its export of fresh fruits to the latter, which has recently been disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, heard a recent press conference in HCM City.

Dr Hoang Trung, head of the Plant Protection Department, told the press conference on September 25 that his department would coordinate the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the US embassy to take measures to prevent export disruptions due to the pandemic.

Vietnam resumed exports of fresh fruits to the US recently after an interruption since early August due to the pandemic, Viet Nam News said.

Pen Petlock, a representative of the embassy, said the US mission has worked with the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to bring Tim Westbrook, an inspector at the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, to Vietnam to continue with an on-going pre-clearance programme.

Westbrook, who arrived in Vietnam on September 2, has completed his COVID-19 quarantined period and began his task at the Son Son Irradiation Plant in HCM City’s Binh Tan district, the only such plant certified by the US in Vietnam

Under the programme, Vietnam exports six varieties of fruits to the US - dragon fruit, rambutan, longan, lychee, star apple, and mango - worth around US$20 million a year. It uses cutting-edge food irradiation technology and a range of plant pest safeguard standards and protocols. Last year Vietnam exported seven million kilogrammes of fruits to the US through the programme. APHIS is an agency under the US Department of Agriculture that supervises the irradiation process at the Son Son Irradiation Plant. The US remains the second largest importer of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables after China. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, despite the pandemic, Vietnam’s exports of fruits and vegetables to the US in the first seven months of this year rose by 9.8 percent year-on-year to $77 million..

$2.26 billion worth of vegetables and fruits exported in eight months

Vietnam exported $2.26 billion worth of vegetables and fruits in the first eight months of the year, a decrease of 11.3 percent compared with the same period last year. The exports of key products decreased significantly including dragon fruit (- 7.7 percent), bananas (- 9.1 percent), watermelons (- 37.7 percent), durian (- 66.3 percent), and longan (- 78.5 percent). Merchants said the price decreases a lot due to Covid-19 resurgence in many countries and demand from importers is weak. Longan in Hung Yen province is in the same situation. After the second Covid-19 outbreak, sales have been going very slowly and price is as hafl as last year.

In terms of market development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) said that there are positive signs about exports after great efforts by the ministry to negotiate with the US Department of Agriculture. APHIS has appointed officers in charge of supervising the treatment of fresh fruits to be exported to the US after a period of interruption because of Covid-19.

A report found that China was the biggest buyer of Vietnam’s farm products in the first seven months, but the total amount decreases a lot. By contrast, exports to the Republic of Korea (RoK), the US, Japan, and Taiwan increased significantly in the first seven months of the year. Particularly, exports to Thailand soared by 215 percent.

Source: VNA