Farm exports face more technical barriers

Customers buy oranges at a supermarket in HCMC. Vietnamese exporters will face more technical barriers to trade when they send farm produce to foreign markets in the coming time - PHOTO: THANH HOA

Vietnamese exporters will face more technical barriers to trade when they send farm produce to foreign markets in the coming time, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

At a conference on farm export jointly organized by the Plant Protection Department (PPD) under MARD and CropLife Vietnam in HCMC on November 2, a representative of MARD said that as of October, MARD had received 35 notices from foreign countries about the Maximum Residue Level (MRL) standards for farm produce.

PPD’s report shows the contribution of farm exports to the country’s total outbound sales declined from 13% in 2012 to 8.6% in 2016. One of the reasons is Vietnamese farm produce could not meet MRL standards in importing countries.

According to PPD, it takes a long time for Vietnam and importing countries to reach agreement on MRL standards and other issues before importing countries allow Vietnamese fruits to enter their markets.

Vietnam needs at least two years to wrap up negotiations. Particularly, it took Vietnam eight years to strike a deal to ship dragon fruit to Australia.