Vietnam Resumes Exporting Fruit To EU After Hiatus

May 9, 2013 Posted by Vietnam Briefing Reading Time: 2 minutes

May 9 – After a 15-month hiatus, Vietnamese produce exporters are now allowed to resume shipments of fruits and vegetables to the European Union (EU) after Vietnam’s plant protection department agreed to re-issue quarantine certificates.

Exports will resume as normal starting June 30.

Vietnam’s plant protection department stopped issuing certificates in March 2012 in an effort to prevent certain exported fruit (such as blue dragon or grapefruit) from being added to the EU’s blacklist after Vietnamese basil, sweet pepper, celery, bitter gourd and coriander failed to meet the EU’s food hygiene and safety regulations. The EU threatened to ban all Vietnamese produce if they found five more batches that were in violation of their regulations.

“Things will return to normal as of June 30,” said Nguyen Van Nga, head of the Plant Quarantine Sub-Department (Zone 2) of the Plant Protection Department.

Nga also recommended that local exporters obtain their products from reliable farmers that grow produce under the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) standards.

Vietnam expects to earn US$1 billion from fresh produce exports this year after exporting about US$224 million from January-April. If exports grow as expected, this year’s revenues are likely to hit the government’s goal of US$1 billion, up from last year’s total of US$829 million dollars.

Vietnamese fruits and vegetables are sold to more than 50 countries and regions, with China, the United States, the EU and Japan among its main export destinations.

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