China is the most important export market for Vietnamese fresh fruits and accounts for 65-70% of the country’s total export volume. However, Vietnamese public and private stakeholders still face challenges within the process of exporting agricultural goods to China, one of which is the severe competition by Chinese companies which control both export and import functions in the transactions and many obstacles when obtaining official licenses, SPS certificates and documents for exporting their commodities. These challenges negatively impact the profitability of Vietnamese producers and fosters unofficial trade channels. At the same time, they also find it difficult to access to up-to-date information on the export process and are left with little support to grasp the vast potentials of exporting to the Chinese market.
Therefore, to address this challenge, Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (VIETRADE) from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) and GIZ SRECA set up step-by-step guidelines on how to export 1) watermelon, 2) longan, 3) lychee, 4) dragon fruit, 5) mango, 6) banana, 7) jackfruit, 8) rambutan, 9) mangosteen to China through official channel to support SMEs in Vietnam. The 09 export guidelines for 09 major crops introduce a wide range of information: from overview of the Chinese production and consumption market and Vietnam’s export status of each specific fruit, to Chinese requirement on SPS, processing, packing, export procedures, etc. and tips for SMEs to work with Chinese businesses, so that Vietnamese SMEs exporters can properly and successfully export those fruits to China.
With the aim to introduce and collect feedback for the draft of 09 export guidelines, Vietrade and GIZ SRECA had co-organized the event: “Consultation workshop on export guidelines of fresh fruits to China” in Hanoi on 18th December 2020. At the event, the participants were introduced with the structure of the guidelines and content of each chapter in the guidelines. Led by the two SRECA consultants, the discussion among participants on how to better improve the materials received many valuable feedbacks and comments, proving the essence and concerns of stakeholders in this matter.
The workshop also provided a great opportunity for participants to update with most updated Chinese regulations and current situation on export-related issue and establish networks and linkages among actors and with supporting agencies from both the private and public sector.