Vietnamese agricultural products have wide export opportunities.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the issuance of planting area codes and packaging facility codes to facilitate the export of agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products is currently being implemented quickly and effectively nationwide.
Specifically, for markets such as the US, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, 1,150 planting area codes and 41 packaging facility codes have been issued. For the Chinese market alone, 1,742 planting area codes covering over 180,000 hectares and 1,840 packaging facility codes for 9 types of fresh fruit have been officially licensed for export.
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| Safe agricultural products are sold at supermarkets in Vinh City. Photo: Quang An |
Accordingly, the assigned planting area must meet the following requirements: The planting area must be identifiable (usually using a GPS positioning system); and good practices must be applied.agricultureGood practices include: focusing on keeping cultivation logs to trace product origins during inspections by competent authorities; regularly monitoring pest and disease situations; implementing good field hygiene and cultivation practices; and ensuring that pesticide residues do not exceed the permissible limits as stipulated by the importing country...
These measures, on the one hand, aim to meet the requirements of importing partners, and on the other hand, are of great value in enhancing the reputation of Vietnamese agricultural products in the international market.
Therefore, in recent years, localities have focused resources on implementing this, while actively promoting awareness among farmers and businesses about the meaning and importance of granting planting area codes and packaging facility codes.
In provinces like the Mekong Delta, which annually supply the market with a large quantity of fruit for export and domestic consumption, export businesses have proactively secured their raw material sources by linking with registered growing areas to maintain stability and improve the quality of agricultural products.
In addition, many provinces in the North are accelerating the process of granting planting area codes for many types of specialty fruits to increase added value. As a result, in 2020, many types of fruit were granted codes.official exportExports to high-quality markets at prices many times higher than before, such as lychees exported to Japan, longan to Australia, and dragon fruit to the US... These results have contributed to Vietnam's agricultural, forestry, and fisheries export turnover reaching a record high of 41.25 billion USD in 2020, despite the agricultural sector facing numerous challenges due to natural disasters and diseases.
In the coming period, along with leveraging the advantages from the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), which came into effect in August 2020, and other signed agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the United Kingdom (UKVFTA), the issuance of planting area codes and packaging facility codes will be further enhanced, opening doors for Vietnamese agricultural products to enter major markets with preferential tariffs. This also presents a new opportunity for Vietnam's agricultural sector to accelerate and strengthen its efforts to fully meet standards for many products, boosting exports from the early months of 2021 to realize the target of achieving an annual export value of 42 billion USD for agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products.
