After four months of constant decline, fruit and vegetable exports in September 2021 were "fresh" again. Notably, the deceleration of fruit and vegetable exports to the Chinese market has had a significant impact on fruit and vegetable exports in general.

Promoting exports to markets such as the EU, US, Japan instead of focusing too much
on the traditional Chinese market is a very important direction to secure vegetable and
fruit exports. Photo: Nguyen Hien 

Exports to China plummeted

According to the latest information from the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), the export value of vegetables and fruits in September 2021 reached US$250 million, up 9.2% compared to August 2021 and up 5.2% over the previous month. In the first nine months of 2021, the export value of vegetables and fruits is estimated at US$2.77 billion, up 11.1% year on year.

The development trend of fruit and vegetable export turnover from the beginning of the year to now shows an increase in the first four months of the year. However, in the next four-month period from May to August, the turnover declined.

"Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam has to apply the strongest preventive measures, causing the production and circulation of goods to be blocked, and the supply chain broken. This is the main reason for the constant decline in the export volume of vegetables and fruits," the representative of the Import-Export Department explained.

Talking to a reporter from Customs News about the positive trend of fruit and vegetable exports in September 2021, Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association said: "Problems of inter-regional, inter-provincial transport are becoming less tense, which can positively affect the situation of fruit and vegetable exports.”

Regarding fruit and vegetable exports from the beginning of the year, the most notable is the situation of exports to China. In August 2021, the export of vegetables and fruits to the Chinese market decreased sharply. China has temporarily stopped importing dragon fruits at Hekou and Thien Bao border gates in Yunnan province (China), causing a sharp drop in domestic dragon fruit prices. The reason given by the Chinese side is that Vietnamese goods are suspected of being infected with SARS-CoV-2.

“In the first eight months of 2021, the volume of fruit and vegetable exports to the Chinese market plummeted sharply compared to other markets. China is Vietnam's main export market for fruit and vegetables. Therefore, the sharp increase in exports to other markets such as the US, Japan, Russia, Australia has not yet offset the decrease in exports to this traditional market," said a representative of the Import-Export Department.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that recently, the Chinese side announced that dragon fruits exported from Vietnam were found to have SARS-CoV-2 virus on the packaging, specifically the shipment from Binh Thuan province. However, the Chinese side only announced this but did not provide any evidence. However, Binh Thuan province has also established an inspection team to clarify whether the shipments of dragon fruit have the SARS-CoV-2 virus as announced by the Chinese side.

“To date, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have stated that there is no evidence and basis that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is transmitted through packaging of agricultural products and food," said the leader of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Reaching the finish line

Regarding the reason why China has decided to temporarily suspend dragon fruit imports from Vietnam saying that it found traces of the coronavirus on Vietnam’s packaging and cartons containing the dragon fruit, Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen said that this is not the root cause. In fact, China wants to tighten the quarantine and protect domestic goods from Vietnam because up to now the area of dragon fruit in China has doubled each year which is about 40,000-50,000 hectares while that figure in 2018 was only about 10,000 hectares.

“In 2019 and 2020, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports to China accounted for about 70% of the total fruit and vegetable export turnover, but this year this figure is only 58%. In the future, the proportion of fruit and vegetable exports to the Chinese market in the total export turnover may decrease further," said Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen.

According to many agricultural experts, Vietnam should make full use of the implementation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to expand and boost exports to other markets such as the EU, the US, Japan instead of depending too much on the Chinese market.

As analyzed by the General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association Vietnam’s fruit and vegetables which are grown in accordance with the criteria of the US, Japan, and EU markets are not popular. Due to the different regulations and standards on goods are applied in each market, it is not possible to redirect China-standardized goods for export to the US, EU, Japan, etc.

In order to boost the export of vegetables and fruits to markets other than China, first of all, it is necessary to implement a particular strategy to increase the planting area equivalent with the requirements of each market. Enterprises need to pay more attention to research on market tastes in combination with changes in cultivation, preservation and processing technology.

“For example, the Chinese market likes to buy whole products, while the EU market prefers more deeply split and processed ones. Chinese partners can buy a bunch of bananas, but the US, the EU consumers are only interested in splitting and packing a few fruits together; or Chinese accept durians in whole fruits, but other markets like to split the segments. Enterprises must pay special attention to all factors,” emphasized Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen.

Regarding the export of vegetables and fruits from now until the end of the year, Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen said that it is not too optimistic due to the prolonged social distancing in many southern provinces and cities, many businesses have had to temporarily close their doors. Up to now, when businesses bounce back, firms are struggling with labor shortages and reducing the factory's capacity. The total export value of vegetables and fruits for the whole year is expected to increase by about 10% over the previous year, reaching about $3.4-3.5 billion.