China tightens import quality control: business association

At a forum promoting trade in agricultural products and food between Vietnam and China on Friday, Tra My, the association’s president, said if a batch of Vietnamese goods does not have a valid phytosanitary certificate or is not registered, it will be returned or destroyed by the Chinese side.

If products are contaminated with soil, aphids or ants, they will also be returned. She said this could be a problem because some Vietnamese exporters still pay more attention to quantity than quality.

Many Vietnamese farmers and businesses remain passive towards approaching potential Chinese partners for direct sales. Instead, they still rely on intermediaries, including traders.

At the forum, Bui Thi Hai, director of Haiyang Trading and Production Company in the central province of Binh Thuan, suggested that the Vietnamese and Chinese governments should negotiate a deal on the export of frozen durian from Vietnam to China via official quota.

Le Thanh Hoa, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said Vietnam has a lot of products that China needs, and local enterprises should maker greater efforts to fully tap the northern neighbor’s massive market.

Last year Vietnam exported various products totaling more than US$53 billion to the world market, including over $14 billion to China, which spent over $260 billion importing goods from many countries.

Vietnam also signed with China protocols on exporting Vietnamese durian, jackfruit, sweet potato and bird’s nest to the Chinese market through official quotas.

This year Vietnam is negotiating with China to do the same with pomelo, avocado, custard apple, plum, cardamom and pineapple.

“The ministry is finalizing documents to continue signing with the Chinese side protocols on exporting more agricultural products via official quota,” Hoa said.

Huynh Tan Dat, deputy director of the ministry’s Plant Protection Department, said the department is negotiating with its Chinese counterpart protocols on exporting fresh fruits – including watermelon, dragon fruit, mango, longan, litchi and rambutan – to China through official quota.

The department is guiding the temporary export of chili and passion fruit to China, he added.