China resumes importing Vietnamese dragon fruit, bananas

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam unveiled the information during a meeting held on September 9 with leaders of the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development of 19 provinces in southern Vietnam.

Nam revealed that his ministry has dispatched a working group to work out a plan alongside the Chinese Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City aimed at facilitating customs clearance through the northern border gate.

According to the plan, the Hekou administration in China’s Yunnan province has permitted customs clearance for Vietnamese bananas through the Kim Thanh – Hekou border gate. The Chinese side has also agreed to re-import Vietnamese dragon fruit via the border gate.

However, both sides are now continuing to negotiate and agree on quarantine measures in order to officially resume customs procedures for the fresh fruit.

Deputy Minister Nam has therefore suggested that southern provinces that are famous for growing tropical fruits for export update information and come up with plans for exporting their products to China and avoiding congestion at border gates.

Recent days has seen customs clearance procedures for Vietnamese farm produce through Kim Thanh border gate slow down significantly which was largely attributed to the fact that both sides have recently implemented strict regulations regarding quarantine work.

In addition, China has also issued a number of stricter regulations relating to product quality standards, food safety and hygiene, along with the origin of the growing area for some products such as jackfruits, mangoes, dragon fruit, and watermelons.