Agri-firms must abide by technical barriers to increase export market share
VOV.VN - Local agricultural businesses have been advised to create green and clean products which fully meet food safety and hygiene standards set by importing countries as they strive to increase their export market shares moving forward, according to industry insiders.
Le Thanh Hoa, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development, therefore advised local firms to pay close attention to consumers’ tastes as each market prefers different farm produce.
A prime example of this can be seen in Vietnamese agricultural products such as mango, longan, litchi, dragon fruit, watermelon, banana, rambutan, jackfruit, and mangosteen being hugely popular in the Chinese market, while fresh and processed tropical fruits and juices are preferred by consumers in the EU.
Elsewhere, such fruit as coconut, pineapple, banana, mango, and white flesh dragon fruit are popular in the Korean market, whilst Japanese, Australian, and New Zealand consumers are keen on red and yellow dragon fruit, mango, lychee, and rambutan.
Furthermore, the dominant fruit products in the United States are dragon fruit, longan, lychee, rambutan, custard apple, mango, and pomelo.
Experts pointed out that local agricultural firms are recommended to fully comply with the stringent requirements set on food safety and hygiene standards by fastidious markets such as the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan (China), New Zealand, Australia, Chile, and Argentina including phytosanitary certificates, a growing area code, and a packaging facility code.
Most notably, some demanding markets have seen import partners send experts to the country in order to check each shipment before export.
Ngo Xuan Nam, deputy head of the Vietnam Sanitary and Phytosaniary Notification Authority and Enquiry Point (SPS Office), revealed that several countries constantly change their regulations on food safety and hygiene, noting that local businesses must actively stay updated on new requirements to maintain their export markets.
Furthermore, local firms must strictly abide with regulations on the maximum residue level (MRL) of pesticides in export items, as well as establishing growing areas in line with VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards to make further inroads into new markets.
