The US and Vietnam Ministries of Agriculture have moved to carry out legal procedures to allow the export of Vietnamese passion fruit to the US market.

Within the framework of the visit and work in the United States, on August 27, 2024, Deputy Minister Hoang Trung and the working delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had a working session with Deputy Minister Hafemeister and representatives of relevant agencies of the US Department of Agriculture.

Soil conditions have helped passion fruit grown in Vietnam to have world-class quality and be loved by consumers in many markets. Photo: Chinhphu.vn

The visit of Deputy Minister Hoang Trung aims to accelerate the opening of markets for some fruits that Vietnam has export advantages; strengthen cooperation between the two ministries in the field of plant protection; promote technical cooperation and investment in sustainable agricultural production, reducing emissions.

At the meeting, the two Deputy Ministers expressed their joy that US peaches/nectarines were allowed to be exported to the Vietnamese market; at the same time, the two sides have made important progress in accessing markets for some other fruits of the two countries.

Specifically, the two sides agreed on technical requirements for Vietnamese passion fruit and took a step forward in the review process for US mandarins.

Signing Ceremony of the Cooperation Framework Agreement

Previously, at the working session with the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Deputy Minister Hoang Trung listened to the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Plant Protection Department report on the results of the 2024 technical meeting between the two sides. Deputy Minister Hoang Trung acknowledged the efforts and highly appreciated the results achieved by the two sides in improving the market access of the two countries' plant products by diversifying products and diversifying additional treatment measures in pest management of the two countries.

Regarding market access, the two countries agreed to conclude technical discussions, move on to implementing legal procedures, allowing the import of Vietnamese passion fruit; Initiate the review process for new products of Vietnam, including seedless lemons, guavas, jackfruit; Agree on the list of pests and the next steps in the review process for tangerines, plums, lemons, pomegranates and some other products for planting varieties of the US side.

Regarding additional treatment measures and improvements to plant quarantine procedures, the US side acknowledged Vietnam's proposals on diversifying plant quarantine measures such as hot steam treatment, Methyl Bromide treatment and cold treatment to reduce costs and facilitate trade between the two countries and affirmed that it will continue to coordinate closely and carry out necessary testing activities to give final opinions; the two sides also agreed to deploy measures to disinfect dry goods in containers at import ports. The US side also pledged to support Vietnam in converting to using electronic plant quarantine certificates (ePhyto).

The Deputy Minister emphasized that these results will help consolidate and increase the trade turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products between the two countries in the coming time. The authorities of the two countries, under the direction of the Deputy Minister, have reached a Framework Agreement on Cooperation in the coming time, focusing on enhancing capacity in risk analysis and pest assessment, sharing knowledge and research results in plant pest management as well as applying digital transformation in quarantine management.

The United States is currently a very important export market for agricultural, forestry and fishery products of Vietnam. Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery exports to the United States in 2023 will reach 10.96 billion USD, accounting for 20.7% of Vietnam's total export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products to the world.

Currently, Vietnam has 8 types of fresh fruits exported to the US market, including: dragon fruit, mango, longan, lychee, rambutan, star apple, grapefruit and coconut.

Source: Cong Thuong Newspaper