Vietnam’s Fruit Imported to US - Priorities may be Given to Green Dragon
"Among 16 fruit the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has applied for permission to export to the US, I think green dragon fruit has the highest possibility," said John Thaw, a former official of the US Department of Agriculture and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), at on the sideline of a seminar ‘Procedures and requirements of the US market for fresh Vietnamese fruit’ which was recently organised by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).
Why did you affirm that among 16 fruit Vietnam has applied for permission to export to the US, green dragon has the highest possibility?
Americans like green dragon and other tropical fruit of Vietnam. I myself have tasted the fruit and was impressed by its nutrition quality. Also, so far, the US has not been able to grow such a fruit yet, so the possibility of importing the fruit to the US is high. However, because few Vietnamese fruit, mainly canned products, have been exported to the US local consumers don’t yet know about the potential of Vietnam’s fruit. Apart from green dragon fruit, lychee and longan of Vietnam are also favourites of American consumers. It is possible to affirm that the US is a market of great potential for Vietnam. However, the practice of food hygiene and safety should be well implemented. This is not only for Vietnamese fruit to enter the US market but also to increase the prestige of Vietnamese fruit in the world market.
What should Vietnamese enterprises note when promoting the export of fruit to the US?
To enter the US market, Vietnamese fruit exporter should pay attention to two main issues. Firstly, the quality of products should be unique. This means that fruit should be the same in terms of weight and quality. Secondly, care should be given to plant inspection as Americans are afraid of pestilent insects. If fruit has pestilent insects it should be treated according to the US standard. Enterprises should apply suitable treatment methods before and after harvest. The packaging and transportation should be implemented in a close circle. The loading of goods at seaports and airports should be implemented according to tight principles to ensure that no insects are able to enter fruit.
According to the practice in the EU, Vietnamese enterprises, which want to export fruit to the market, have to apply the EU quarantine regulations. EU experts will go to Vietnam to examine the implementation of quarantine regulations in the field. Is the quarantine system of the US similar to one of the EU?
All countries have a right to develop their own quarantine systems. The US quarantine system is completely different from that of the EU. In the US, we only pay attention to pestilent insects in fruit but not the treatment in gardens. I think that the treatment in the field cannot reduce a risk of pestilent insects as they can enter fruit after harvest. We are not much interested in the treatment of quality in the field. Instead, we pay attention to the implementation of the two sides’ commitments when purchase contracts are signed. This means that we will have our experts to quarantine in Vietnam to make sure that all lots of goods have experienced pestilent insect treatment. The EU sends its experts to the field for examination and we have our own method based on the quarantine treatment. This is a big difference.
According to statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam’s fruit export turnover to the US increased from US$5 million in 1999 to over US$6 million in 2004. The Vietnam-US Trade Agreement has facilitated Vietnam’s export to the market. Vietnam’s position among countries and territories exporting to the US has significantly improved as the country has moved up from 56th in 2001 to 40th in 2003 and 37th in 2004. However, Vietnam’s export market remains constrained. In particular, the export of fresh fruit to the US faces many difficulties in processing and preservation to meet the requirements necessary for imports to the market.
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