AsemconnectVietnam - Fruit and vegetable exports fell by 5.1 per cent to US$2.81 billion during the first nine months of the year in comparison to last year’s corresponding period, according to statistics released by the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

September alone saw fruit and vegetable exports surge by 0.8 per cent to US$272.16 million over the previous month, representing a fall of 4.7 per cent against the same period last year.
The Import and Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade noted that although fruit and vegetable exports to markets such as the United States, the Republic of Korea, Japan, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand have increased dramatically in recent times, it has not been enough to compensate for fall in exports to the Chinese market.

Overall, the fruit and vegetable exports to China has dropped by 14.4 per cent to US$1.9 billion on-year. This decline can be attributed to escalating trade tensions between the US and China which have reduced China’s agricultural exports to the US market. As a result, the Asian superpower’s agricultural products have focused more inwardly on domestic consumption.
According to data by the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, fruit and vegetable exports have suffered a sharp fall as the export value of a number of major fruit and vegetable products have plunged.

At present, the country exports nine types of fruit to China, including dragon fruit, watermelons, litchi, longan, bananas, mangoes, jackfruit, rambutan, and mangosteen. During the first eight months of the year, China largely imported mangosteen from Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
China and Vietnam first signed a protocol to open the market for Vietnamese mangosteen on April 26. This was followed by China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs publishing reports in late August relating to quarantining local mangosteen that have fully met the export requirements.
Accordingly, Vietnam’s mangosteen will officially appear in supermarkets and stores across China in the coming months, which will open a window of opportunity for businesses to exploit the northern neighbour’s large mangosteen market.

The Department of Agro-Processing and Market Development stated that once the new generation free trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) come into force, local agricultural products will enjoy greater opportunities to penetrate demanding markets of European nations, the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Australia.
Simultaneously, foreign agricultural products will enjoy advantages from gaining entry to the Vietnamese market with an import tax of zero per cent.
According to experts, there are positive signs for the domestic fruit and vegetable sector in the coming months as local mangoes have been granted permission to enter the Chilean market.
Moreover, Vietnamese fresh longans were also allowed to be exported to the Australian market in August.
Source: VOV.VN