(VAN) Director General of the General Administration of Customs of China, Ms. Sun Mai Jun, has pledged to implement measures that will ease the import process for Vietnamese agricultural products.
Create maximum convenience for Vietnamese agricultural products
During a meeting on May 28 between Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), Minister Do Duc Duy stated: “Vietnam and China have agreed to boost customs clearance efficiency and enhance quality control at border gates. Both sides are also prepared to extend clearance hours to help ease congestion.”
Ms. Sun Mai Jun confirmed that the two countries have reached a broad consensus across many areas of trade. “To support the influx of Vietnamese agricultural products during the peak harvest season, we’ve instructed border officials to increase working hours and inspection staff. These steps aim to create the best possible conditions for Vietnamese goods to enter the Chinese market,” she said.
Minister Do Duc Duy presented a souvenir to Ms. Sun Mai Jun, Director General of the General Administration of Customs of China. Photo: ICD.
So far, the two countries have signed 28 memorandums and protocols covering the trade of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products, highlighting their strong and ongoing cooperation. A wide range of Vietnamese products is now exported to China, including 15 types of fruits and vegetables (such as watermelon, mangosteen, grass jelly, durian, fresh banana, sweet potato, chili, passion fruit, dragon fruit, rambutan, mango, lychee, longan, and jackfruit), as well as crocodiles, farmed monkeys, bird’s nests, fish meal, and various raw materials for animal feed, dairy products, and seafood.
At the meeting, Minister Do Duc Duy welcomed the GACC’s recent decision to update and approve an additional 829 plantation area codes and 131 packing facility codes for Vietnamese durians exported to China. He noted that this reflects the effective coordination between the two sides and serves as strong encouragement for Vietnamese farmers and businesses.
“We share China’s concerns regarding food safety indicators, especially Cadmium and Auramine O dye. Immediately after receiving the warning, Vietnam investigated the cause and implemented synchronous control and remedial solutions throughout the production – processing – export chain. The results have been compiled into a report and sent to the GACC to update progress and demonstrate Vietnam’s control capacity,” Minister Do Duc Duy informed.
To continue to facilitate durian exports in 2025 and the following years, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment proposes a number of specific cooperation contents:
Firstly, it is recommended that the General Department promptly consider adjusting food safety control measures for Vietnamese durian in a more favorable direction.
Second, facilitate quick customs clearance for durian, especially during peak harvest season.
Third, the GACC is requested to continue considering and approving additional testing laboratories with sufficient capacity to analyze Cadmium and Auramine O indicators, thereby facilitating quality testing activities before export.
Vietnam will strive to strengthen measures to control durian quality throughout the entire supply chain, from production to processing and export, and is ready to closely coordinate with the GACC to address any arising situations related to food quality and safety.
China to prioritize customs clearance for durian and lychee
Vietnam and China have agreed to establish a “green agricultural channel”, prioritizing fast customs clearance at border gates for fresh fruit products during the peak harvest season.
Minister of Agriculture and Environment Do Duc Duy led a working delegation to work with the General Administration of Customs of China. Photo: ICD .
Currently, China is Vietnam’s largest import market and also Vietnam’s largest export market for agricultural, forestry, and fishery products.
Vietnam has removed all obstacles to the export of sturgeon, dog and cat food from China to Vietnam.
Accordingly, Minister Do Duc Duy and Director General Sun Mai Jun agreed to promote cooperation in the field of agricultural trade and market opening in the coming time with new mechanisms such as establishing a “green agricultural channel” mechanism, prioritizing fast customs clearance at border gates for fresh fruit products during the peak harvest season, especially lychees; increasing working hours at border gates during the season (including weekends and outside of office hours); establishing an early warning mechanism, sharing information on violating shipments so that Vietnam can proactively and promptly remedy the situation; establishing a permanent technical contact point between the two sides at border gates, in order to promptly coordinate in handling arising situations.
Agreeing with the Minister’s proposal on fresh fruit trade, especially durian and lychee, Ms. Ton Mai Quan agreed that the two sides will study and consider establishing a rotating, annual ministerial-level meeting mechanism.
In addition, the two sides also proposed establishing a joint working group on food safety and quality inspection, quarantine, to promote cooperation and promptly address arising issues.
GACC stated that China will soon send a working group to conduct field inspections of grapefruits and lemons from Vietnam to draft an export protocol, and simultaneously conduct inspections of durian and chili.
Regarding seafood, the Chinese side will soon respond to the draft Protocol on seafood export, which will integrate the contents on food safety control for exported seafood products, and will be integrated into the upcoming Protocol and the two sides will soon respond so that these two letters can be signed.
In addition, the two sides will soon complete procedures to sign a Protocol on Vietnam’s exploited aquatic products and fresh aquatic products exported to China. They will also consider signing a number of new protocols to replace expired ones, in accordance with the current situation.
During this visit, the delegation visited, worked, and explored cooperation opportunities with Tan Phat Dia Agricultural Products Distribution Center, the largest agricultural product importer and distributor in China.
In addition, Minister Do Duc Duy also visited and worked with the China Supply and Marketing Group, a large-scale agricultural distribution industrial group in China. Currently, the Group has total assets of nearly 200 billion yuan, 11 subsidiaries, and 32,800 employees operating in various fields, including fertilizer and pesticide trading, food storage and trading services, cotton trading and services, agricultural product distribution, and agricultural product wholesale markets.
Surveying agricultural product distribution centers/wholesale markets, companies/corporations operating in the agricultural, forestry and fishery sector will create a good premise to guide businesses and localities to seek cooperation and investment opportunities in the agricultural sector.
From May 27-29, Minister of Agriculture and Environment Do Duc Duy led a working delegation to work with the General Administration of Customs of China to discuss and coordinate to remove difficulties in exporting agricultural and aquatic products from Vietnam to China, especially durian, and coordinate to prepare solutions to ensure smooth import and export activities for the upcoming lychee crop.
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