Facilitating the export of lychees to China.

“We have directed relevant agencies such as the Border Gate Economic Management Board, Customs, Border Guard, and Transport… to create the best possible conditions for lychees from Bac Giang, Hai Duong, Hung Yen… to be transported and exported to the Chinese market through the Lao Cai International Border Gate, ensuring speed, convenience, and no congestion,” said Mr. Nguyen Thanh Duong, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Lao Cai province, at the Lychee Consumption Promotion Conference held on the morning of June 7th at the Lao Cai International Border Gate.

Lychees from Bac Giang have begun to be exported to China through the Lao Cai International Border Gate.

Every year, from May to the end of June, the lychee-growing regions of Bac Giang, Hai Duong, and Hung Yen provinces harvest hundreds of thousands of tons of lychees. In Luc Ngan lychee-growing area (Bac Giang), according to Mr. Bui Van Hanh, Vice Chairman of the Bac Giang Provincial People's Committee, this year's lychee harvest is expected to be bountiful, with a projected yield of approximately 90,000 tons of fresh fruit. Bac Giang province and the Luc Ngan District People's Committee have directed the local banking system to provide the necessary funds and ensure banking services for traders purchasing lychees for export; and to establish a system for producing and supplying ice blocks to keep lychees chilled during long-distance transportation. The Bac Giang Provincial People's Committee is committed to creating the most favorable conditions for Chinese traders to come to the locality to purchase and consume lychees.

Mr. Chu Yong Sheng, Head of the Economic Management Department of Hekou Town (China).

According to Mr. Chu Vinh Sinh, Head of the Economic Management Board of Ha Khau Border Gate (China), lychees from Luc Ngan (Bac Giang), Thanh Ha (Hai Duong), etc., are of good quality, have attractive designs, and are reasonably priced, making them very popular and in high demand among consumers in Kunming, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces (China). Annually, the Lao Cai International Border Gate supplies approximately 40,000 to 50,000 tons of fresh lychees to these Chinese markets. The challenge is for the relevant authorities on both sides of the Lao Cai - Ha Khau border gate to coordinate closely, increase manpower, reform administrative procedures, and arrange convenient parking areas to expedite the customs clearance of fresh lychees.

Currently, at the beginning of the lychee harvest season, the Lao Cai border gate is bustling with trucks carrying styrofoam boxes filled with fresh, ice-packed lychees from Bac Giang, traveling along National Highway 70 to Lao Cai for export to Hekou (China). According to statistics from the Lao Cai Economic Zone Management Board, over 2,600 tons of lychees have been exported through the Lao Cai border gate in the past 10 days, reaching a value of 1.2 million USD. In last year's lychee season (2013), more than 44,000 tons of lychees from the lowlands, mainly Bac Giang, were exported through the Lao Cai International Border Gate, reaching a value of over 13 million USD.

The problem is that the lychee harvest in the lowlands takes place over a month, while the yield is very large (approximately 135,000 tons), leading farmers to harvest the lychees in bulk as soon as they ripen to prevent spoilage. Furthermore, the distance from Bac Giang to Lao Cai is over 300 km, with only one main road, National Highway 70, which is severely degraded. The volume of traffic is very high (approximately 1,500 to 2,000 vehicles per day and night), leading to frequent traffic jams; parking areas, and cold storage facilities at the Lao Cai border gate are limited and cramped. These difficulties need to be overcome and resolved to ensure quick customs clearance within the day and prevent congestion of lychee trucks along the transport route and at the border gate.

To maximize convenience, the People's Committee of Lao Cai province directed the Management Board of Economic Zones, Customs, Border Guard, Police, and Transport... to strengthen personnel and resources, and reform administrative procedures to ensure fast and safe customs clearance for lychees at the Lao Cai International Border Gate. Specifically, the police force arranged checkpoints appropriately to ensure traffic safety and prevent congestion on National Highway 70; the Lao Cai Economic Zone Management Board arranged parking areas and goods collection points at the Lao Cai Border Gate and Kim Thanh Road Bridge to ensure spaciousness and safety; and units such as the Customs Department and Plant Quarantine organized quick and convenient inspection and quarantine. Lao Cai province also set up a department to issue Certificates of Origin (C/O) for exported lychees right near the border gate.

Luc Ngan lychees are of good quality, have attractive packaging, meet China's food safety and hygiene standards, and are reasonably priced, making them very popular with consumers in southwestern China such as Kunming, Guizhou, and Sichuan. This year's demand is unlimited, but the lychees must be fresh, undamaged, and free of pesticide residue. The Ha Khau Border Economic Management Board is facilitating the import of Bac Giang lychees into China to meet domestic consumption needs.

According to NDĐT