Mr. Hoang Trung, Director of the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), said that Japan's authorization for Vietnam to supervise the disinfection process of lychee exported to the Japanese market creates favorable conditions for the export of lychee to the Japanese market, reducing time and costs. At the same time, it could also set a similar precedent for other fruit products.

Mr. Hoang Trung - Director of Plant Protection Department

In this year's lychee harvest and consumption season, instead of sending Japanese experts to Vietnam, the Japanese side has officially authorized the plant quarantine agency of Vietnam to supervise the entire process of disinfecting lychee shipments exported to Japan. What do you think about this move?

Under the direction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in order to promote the export of lychee to the Japanese market, the Plant Protection Department has been very proactive, working with the quarantine agency of Japan as well as the counselor of Japan in Viet Nam.

Through many negotiations, Vietnam is making efforts for the Japanese side to continue to open the door for other Vietnamese fruit such as longan; at the same time, with the current complicated situation of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Japanese side will authorize Vietnamese quarantine experts to replace the Japanese quarantine experts, directly handling and disinfecting the batch of lychee exported to Japan.

The Japanese side has officially agreed to allow the plant quarantine agency of Vietnam to supervise the entire process of fumigation and treatment of lychees for export in accordance with regulations set by the two sides.

How does the Plant Protection Department prepare to facilitate the monitoring of lychee shipments to Japan?

In order to do this, Vietnamese plant quarantine experts must firmly grasp Japanese regulations to meet their requirements.

After being processed, the lychee shipments exported to Japan must ensure the eradication of all plant quarantine that Japan is interested in. In addition, localities such as Hai Duong and Bac Giang are also very proactive, not only instructing farmers to fully meet the requirements in the process of planting, caring, and preventing pests and diseases set by the Japanese side, it also creates conditions for businesses to complete lychee processing facilities.

Hai Duong province has four lychee processing facilities, while Bac Giang has two facilities. Through inspection and evaluation, the Plant Protection Department found that all facilities met the technical requirements of the Japanese side. In the future, the Department will send a phytosanitary expert to supervise, after the processing is complete, it will issue a certificate, seal it, and transfer it to the airport for export to the Japanese market.

According to the plan, the Plant Quarantine Sub-department of Region 5 will be in charge of Bac Giang province, and the Plant Quarantine Sub-Department of Region 1 will be in charge of Hai Duong province. The Plant Protection Department requires the Sub-Departments to ensure sufficient resources whenever an export enterprise needs a quarantine officer.

How will Japan's authorization for Vietnam to supervise the disinfection treatment of lychees for export to Japan open up advantages for this year's exports? Is this a premise to expand the method with many other fruits?

Actively monitoring the process of disinfecting lychees for export will help the export of lychee to Japan to ensure compliance with regulations and higher quantity; thereby greatly reducing the time and cost of exporting.

Currently, businesses are very excited to register for a plan to export lychee to Japan with a significant increase in quantity compared to 2020. This shows a very positive market signal.

More importantly, it has confirmed the quarantine capacity of Vietnamese plant quarantine officers. This is the premise, so that not only this year but also in following years, Vietnam does not have to depend on Japanese quarantine experts, and can open up similar opportunities for some other fruit.

Thank you, sir!