During the first nine months of this year, Vietnam saw a 4.3-per-cent decline in vegetable and fruit export value. According to the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, US$2.84 billion was the total value, a 4.3 percent drop compared to the same period last year.
The association predicts the total vegetable and fruit export value this year will reach $3.5 billion, the same as in 2018 and below their $4.2 billion target.
Đặng Phúc Nguyên, the association’s General Secretary, told the Financial Investment newspaper the reduction in the past months was due to strict requirements installed by China. As a result, the vegetable and fruit export turnover in May decreased by 23.1 percent against the previous month.
Currently China imports nine kinds of fruit from Vietnam, including dragon fruit, banana, watermelon, lychee, longan, mango, jackfruit, rambutan and mangosteen.
China has also enforced strict regulations on traceability that require products to have a planting area code and packaging facility code. That saw Vietnam’s exports to China in July drop 44 percent year on year.
