China and Vietnam signed the protocol on banana export to China, ushering in a positive export trade

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam (MARD) and the General Administration of Customs of China recently signed a protocol on phytosanitary requirements for Vietnamese fresh bananas exported to China, which will bring benefits and opportunities to Vietnamese banana growers and exporters, Vietnamese media reported.

From October 30 to November 1, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong paid an official visit to China. The two sides signed 13 cooperation documents covering various fields, including the Protocol on banana exports from Vietnam to China.

Vietnam's agricultural and rural development Li Minghuan minister pointed out that the implementation of the protocol content, will help to decrease the rate of port plant inspection and quarantine, to speed up the customs clearance time, ensure the banana to stabilize the price of the formal export, ease border port congestion phenomena of agricultural products, reduce market risk, at the same time improve the Vietnam banana's reputation in China.

According to the protocol, all banana growing areas and packaging facilities exported to China must be approved by Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and China's General Administration of Customs, the growing areas must be produced in accordance with Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) standards, and the packaging process of the growing areas and packaging facilities must be monitored. Packaging facilities must meet product traceability requirements, 2% phytosanitary sampling must be carried out when exporting to China, and must meet Chinese food safety standards, etc. Vietnamese fresh bananas will be exported through all Chinese border ports approved by the General Administration of Customs, Le Minh Huan added.

Currently, 11 kinds of fruits from Vietnam are exported to China through the regular trade channel, including pitaya, longan, rambutan, mango, jackfruit, watermelon, banana, mangosteen, lychee, durian and passion fruit. Passion fruit is only allowed to import through Guangxi port pilot for landing processing.

Although Vietnamese bananas are not on the entry list of China's General Administration of Customs, Vietnamese bananas have been exported to China through border trade for many years. Over the past three years, more than 430,000 tons of Vietnamese bananas have been exported to China through phytosanitary inspection (2020), 574,000 tons in 2021 and 591,000 tons in the first nine months of 2022.