After years of negotiations and technical preparations, Vietnam is set to export its first shipments of fresh pomelos to Australia by sea. This marks a notable milestone in the process of expanding export markets for Vietnamese agricultural products.

Within this implementation chain, pre-export phytosanitary treatment is a mandatory step. The Toan Phat Irradiation Plant (TPI) is currently one of the facilities recognized by Australian authorities as eligible to treat fresh fruits for export to this market.

One of the first pomelo shipments to Australia, implemented by Vina T&T Group, has been processed at the Toan Phat Irradiation Plant, meeting Australia’s technical and biosecurity requirements. This represents a practical step following the official market opening for Vietnamese pomelos.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Australia has officially announced import requirements for Vietnamese pomelos after a multi-year risk assessment process, providing the basis for actual export activities.

However, market access is only the starting point. It comes with a strict set of technical requirements that enterprises must comply with to ensure sustainable market entry. Specifically, products must be free from 19 quarantine pests, grown in registered planting areas, packed at approved facilities, and treated in accordance with phytosanitary regulations. Irradiation is a mandatory step prior to export.

The first pomelo shipments to Australia have been treated at TPI with a minimum irradiation dose of 400 Gy, in compliance with Australia’s phytosanitary requirements, which are among the most critical technical conditions for this market.

The first shipment was processed at the Toan Phat Irradiation Plant (TPI), a facility accredited by BICON (DAFF) for irradiating fresh fruits for export to Australia.

For the Australian market, requirements extend beyond product quality to encompass the entire process—from cultivation and packing to pre-export quarantine treatment. In this context, the capacity of post-harvest treatment facilities becomes a critical link in the export supply chain.

In addition, the Toan Phat Irradiation Plant operates under internationally recognized quality and food safety management systems such as ISO 9001, ISO 22000, and HACCP, along with Halal certification and EU Code compliance, supporting integrated control from receiving and processing to storage.

Pomelo is the sixth Vietnamese fruit permitted for export to Australia, following dragon fruit, lychee, longan, mango, and passion fruit. With a cultivation area of approximately 100,000 hectares and an annual output of nearly 1 million tons, pomelo represents a high-potential export product. However, translating this potential into actual export value depends significantly on quality management and the effectiveness of post-harvest handling systems.

The story of the first pomelo shipments to Australia is not merely about entering a new market. More importantly, it reflects a broader shift in agricultural exports: competition is no longer based solely on volume but increasingly on the capability to organize and manage the entire supply chain. As technical and phytosanitary standards continue to rise, the operational capacity of the full supply chain will determine how far Vietnamese agricultural products can go.

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