Vietnam exports rice to Mexico
(VOV) - Five Vietnamese businesses have sold more than 2,693 tonnes of rice to Mexico since early this year.
2013 is the first year Vietnam start exporting rice to this market, said Nguyen Van Nga, Head of the Zone 2 Plant Quarantine Sub-Department of the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Nga described Mexico as a demanding market with strict requirements on rice imports such as certificates of origin for imported batches and plant quarantine certificates.
Last year, representatives from the Plant Protection Department worked with Mexico’s food safety and hygiene agencies to learn about requirements on standard rice production procedures.
In June alone, Vietnam earned over US$293 million from its exports of nearly 700,000 tonnes of rice, according to the Vietnam Food Association.
Its rice exports in the first half of the year reached 3.4 million tonnes worth US$1.5 billion, less than half of the total turnover of US$3.3 billion from 7.5 million tonnes last year.