The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement, which will take effect from January 1, 2022, stipulates the elimination of tariffs on about 90% of product groups within 20 years.

Although it brings many opportunities in expanding the market, however, quality is a bottleneck for our country's agricultural products.

Great potential

RCEP is a free trade agreement between ASEAN countries and China, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand; population of 2.2 billion people, GDP of over 26,000 billion USD, equivalent to about 30% of the world's population and GDP, accounting for about 29% of trade in goods and 32.5% of global investment.

According to the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), in 2023, export turnover to the RCEP region reached about 146.5 billion USD, accounting for 41.3% of the country's total export turnover. In the first 6 months of 2024, export turnover reached 72.9 billion USD, an increase of 8% over the same period in 2023.

Shrimp is one of the seafood products favored by the Australian market.

In 2022 (the first year of implementing the Agreement), agricultural, forestry and fishery products all grew compared to 2021 (Australia increased by 49.2%; Japan increased by 27.5%; ASEAN increased by 20.4%...). In 2023, Indonesia increased by 4.5 times compared to 2022; Philippines increased by 15.7%; China increased by 15.8%... In the first 6 months of 2024, except for 03 countries in ASEAN (Laos, Myanmar, Brunei), the export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products to the remaining markets in the bloc all had positive results.

China is Vietnam's largest import market in RCEP, with 12 products. Including some fruits such as: mango, longan, lychee, rambutan, jackfruit and dragon fruit. Recently, China opened its doors to fresh coconut, crocodile and frozen durian from Vietnam into its market.

Next is New Zealand, with 5 products. Most recently, South Korea officially licensed fresh grapefruit.

Despite many advantages, many Vietnamese agricultural, forestry and fishery products violate the Food Safety and Animal and Plant Disease Safety (SPS) regulations of importing countries.

Mr. Lo Xuan Quyet, Chief Representative of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Office in Hangzhou (China) said that Vietnam is in the group of 10 countries and territories with the largest number of agricultural and food products warned, including seafood, fruit juice (excluding coffee, dairy products), cakes of all kinds...

The errors that are warned are usually quality, food hygiene and safety; documents accompanying the goods such as: lack of goods certification; goods not in accordance with the certificate/certificate; goods not yet permitted for import; labels and packaging of goods not meeting import regulations and requirements.

The reason for this situation is that exporting enterprises have not really complied with the regulations of importers.

According to Mr. Le Thanh Hoa, Director of the Vietnam SPS Office, SPS regulations in Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery import markets are constantly changing. Meanwhile, the production and processing processes and technologies of Vietnamese people and enterprises still have many stages that are not 100% controlled, such as irrigation water sources, soil, watering cans, etc., all of which can pose a risk of contamination and pesticide residues.

Note from import market

The implementation of RCEP marks an important milestone in the economic integration process between Vietnam and ASEAN, bringing both short-term and long-term benefits; helping to open the door for exports of Vietnamese agricultural products.

Therefore, when exporting goods, Vietnamese enterprises need to comply with food safety and plant quarantine requirements. Compliance with these regulations not only helps exported goods to be accepted in the importing country but also helps to avoid risks at the port of arrival. Ensuring complete quarantine and food safety procedures helps enterprises feel more secure about the import-export process.

For example, seafood exported to the Chinese market must comply with the instructions of FAO, WHO and the requirements of China. In addition, the new requirement is to declare the code of the growing area and packaging facility for agricultural products. Some agricultural products also need to be registered according to orders 248 and 249 of China.

Exploiting the RCEP market is a long-term task, enterprises need to invest in improving quality, meeting the requirements and standards of importers.

In the coming time, enterprises and cooperatives need to invest in technical innovation, increasing the technology content in production and processing of products (through joint ventures, partnerships with domestic and foreign researchers and enterprises; upgrading and acquiring modern production processes and technologies...). At the same time, research to improve the quality, design... of products to suit market needs.

Mr. Lo Xuan Quyet said that enterprises and cooperatives should organize production according to VietGAP, GlobalGAP standards, standards of importing countries and strengthen management, supervision of quality, food safety and hygiene... to exploit and meet the maximum potential and needs of large markets such as China, Korea, Japan.

“Enterprises need to comply with regulations on quality standards, quarantine testing, packaging, and traceability of the importing country; focus on brand building. Human resources with professional knowledge, language proficiency, and understanding of the importing country's market are needed. Vietnamese goods need to be ready to compete with agricultural products and food products of other countries participating in exporting to the Chinese market,” Mr. Quyet emphasized.

Regarding production, the Vietnam SPS Office recommends that growing and farming areas need to comply with Vietnam's regulations on the use of pesticides and antibiotics; comply with and update food safety and disease safety measures (SPS) of the importing market; strengthen linkages between raw material areas, packaging, preliminary processing, and processing facilities; apply technical advances, convert farming models to suit trends, etc.

In addition, in addition to paying attention to quality and flavor, products need to have supporting factors such as stability in production, safety in processing and circulation, and trust in commitment. Ensuring these factors will help businesses negotiate and maintain long-term partners.

Source: Kinh Te Nong Thon Newspaper