Official export of new Vietnamese fruit to China

DNHN - Vietnam will export and import watermelons through any Chinese border gates that are authorised by China's General Department of Customs to handle fruit imports.

According to information from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Plant Protection Department, a protocol on plant quarantine for fresh watermelon products exported from Vietnam to China has been signed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam and the General Department of Customs of China. This incident happened on December 12–13, 2023, during General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping's state visit to Vietnam.

In order to guarantee that Vietnam's fresh watermelons adhere to Chinese laws, regulations, and standards on food safety and hygiene, the Protocol precisely outlines China's import criteria. To provide Vietnamese manufacturing, packing, and export units with a foundation for compliance, laws on plant quarantine are also in place at the same time.

The Protocol states that five live plant quarantine species, such as fruit flies, Phenacoccus solenopsi aphids, Acidovorax avenae subsp citrulli bacteria, leaves, or soil, cannot be present in Vietnamese fresh watermelons sent to China.

Both China's General Administration of Customs and Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development must register and authorise any growing sites and packing facilities for watermelons exported to China. Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) must be followed, and the garden and the packaging facility's packing process must be closely monitored. It is imperative for packaging facilities to establish a traceability system that guarantees traceability to the designated growing area.

Following the protocol's issuance, Vietnam will export and import watermelons through any Chinese border gates that are approved for fruit imports by China's General Department of Customs. When importing plants into China, the 2% plant quarantine sampling rate must adhere to national food safety regulations.

As a result, six Vietnamese agricultural products and fruits—mangosteen, black jelly, durian, banana, sweet potato, and watermelon—have signed the treaty. To guarantee sustained exports and harmonise import and export laws for agricultural products between the two nations, this is a crucial step.

PV