“Today’s conference aims to discuss and propose solutions to further promote the export of Vietnam’s key products to China. Hopefully, through the conference, we will hear many valuable opinions,” said Mr. Le Thanh Hoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Processing Quality and Market Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. So what have regulators including Vietnam and China said?
Problems “with the name” Logistics
Speaking at the conference, Mr. Ho Tien Thieu, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Lang Son province, said that from January 19, 2023, Kep station, Lang Giang district, Bac Giang province has been allowed to temporarily operate inter-connected operations by the Ministry of Transport. international shipping. This is expected to reduce the load on Gia Lam station, as well as help Vietnamese agricultural products penetrate deeper into the Chinese market.
During nearly 3 years of the Covid-19 epidemic, Lang Son province has prioritized investment resources in border gate infrastructure; strengthening administrative reform, focusing on administrative procedure reform in association with accelerating the application of information technology and digital transformation. As a result, in 2022, the total import-export turnover through the province will reach US$3.1 billion, of which exports will reach US$940 million; agricultural product exports reached 1.7 million tons, with a total value of about 705 million USD. Currently, Lang Son maintains customs clearance of goods at 05 border gates including: Huu Nghi, Tan Thanh, Chi Ma, Coc Nam, and Dong Dang Station.
“The province tries to make processes transparent, minimizing costs and time for people and businesses; drastic implementation of solutions to support, remove difficulties, accompany businesses, create a favorable, transparent, safe and equal business environment for import-export enterprises through the province. Mr. Ho Tien Thieu, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Lang Son province said.
Therefore, the representative of the Chinese corporation proposed to build bonded warehouses in both Vietnam and China, upgrade packaging and storage processes to improve import and export capacity.
“Guangxi businesses are very excited to participate in today’s Conference. This province also has some new leaders who are also very interested in Vietnamese agricultural products,” said Do Nam Trung, Consulate General of Vietnam in Nanning, Guangxi, China. Trung affirmed that Guangxi will still be a key point in the export of Vietnamese agricultural products to China with good infrastructure and is continuing to be invested and developed.
In 2022, in Guangxi, the import value of Vietnamese agricultural products only decreased by about 0.2% compared to the previous year, but this year is expected to bounce back strongly. The Consulate General said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Lang Son have done very well during the epidemic. “During the time of the epidemic, almost only Huu Nghi border gate had non-stop customs clearance. This is a bright spot in the two countries’ trade.”
Commenting on the “natural time, favorable location, human harmony” existing between Guangxi province and localities bordering this province of Vietnam, Mr. Trung expressed that this will be a bridge between farmers and consumers. The Consul General said he would continue to stay in close contact and promote his role in supporting businesses of the two countries to continue cooperation in the coming time.
“Last year, we signed a contract with a Vietnamese partner, purchasing more than 2,000 containers. This is an annual contract, we buy that quantity every year with items such as durian, jackfruit, passion fruit, mango, purple sweet potato”, said Mr. Ngo Tuan Dat, General Director of Southeast Asia fruit segment. , Sunwah International Trade Supply Chain Management Company (Guangdong), said.
Mr. Ngo hoped that through forums and conferences organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, he would have the opportunity to meet many potential businesses in Vietnam. “We have both online sales channels and direct sales channels at supermarkets and markets. On the social networking platform Douyin (similar to Tiktok in Vietnam), we also have a sales channel. We are now a strategic partner of Douyin.” Sunwah representative said that in 2023, it is expected to increase the purchase of Vietnamese agricultural products, from 2,000 to 2,500 containers.
Emphasizing that China is no longer an easy market, Mr. Huynh Tan Dat, Deputy Director of the Plant Protection Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development stated a number of changes in this market such as: Strict control of goods. cross-border, especially the form of border trade (small-quota); Required to negotiate market opening for each type of product; Manage imported products in the form of signing the Protocol; Requires declaration of growing area code and packing facility.
Over the years, China has perfected its legal system, through two amendments to the Food Safety Law, and at the same time issuing Orders 248, 249 in 2021 and Order 259 in 2022, Mr. To Ngoc Son, Deputy Director General of Asia – Africa Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade said.
At the same time, China has continuously strengthened law enforcement when it advocates to bring commercial activities into regularity and order, and strengthen supervision and strict implementation of the regulations “Not only increasing the value of exports , we need to aim for sustainable exports, and find ways to keep this important partner,” said the leader of the Asia-Africa Market Department.
Mr. Lu Chao, representative of the General Administration of Customs of China, in charge of food hygiene and safety, suggested that businesses of the two countries can visit the official website of the General Administration of Customs of China to review specific types of food. Which agricultural products and aquatic products need to be registered for official export, which ones need the guarantee of Chinese enterprises, through the official channel.
Thus, the problem of Green Logistics is posed. According to Mr. Lu, Orders 248 and 249 are based on China’s previous regulations, not at all “surprises”, focusing on food hygiene and safety, specifying the responsibilities of each stage…
Promote the formation of “digital supply chain”
A representative of China – ASEAN Port Information Technology Group said that it is focusing on expanding the “digital silk road” to support the electronics industry, startups that need high technology and a number of related industries. mandarin. He shared information on the shortage of agricultural products, the long distances of freight, the lack of digital standards in logistics, the weak ability to manage and control goods, especially the lack of large warehouses in the country. outside.
Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Association of Fruit and Vegetables said that China is moving to increase the import of vegetables and fruits from ASEAN. Through the RCEP Agreement, businesses in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, have many conditions to access the market of 1.4 billion people.
The biggest difficulty in promoting fruit and vegetable exports to China, according to Mr. Nguyen, is that there are still 7/12 export items that do not have a protocol. This makes it difficult for some key products such as dragon fruit, mango, and jackfruit to reach their full potential.
Another problem mentioned by Mr. Nguyen is that the time to approve the planting area code and packing code is still long. For example, dragon fruit takes about 6-7 months to be approved, durian has great potential and value, but the number of grades is small, accounting for about 5% of the total planting area. He suggested that the management agencies pay more attention to vegetables and fruits, so that this product can further improve its value in the future.
“We recommend that the Vietnamese side create favorable conditions for online purchasing activities, find ways to further reduce the clearance time. Businesses of the two sides also need to discuss and negotiate carefully to facilitate customs clearance,” said Mr. Vuong Chinh Ba, Chairman of Guangxi Business Association.
According to Mr. Ho Tien Thieu, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Lang Son province, the export situation still faces some problems such as: the number of tropical fruit products exported by Vietnam is still limited compared to the production potential; Some types of agricultural and aquatic products of Vietnam are facing stiff competition in terms of quality, price, brand, and distribution form from other countries with similar supply.
In addition, the work of building and registering trademarks in China for Vietnam’s agricultural and aquatic products has not been as effective as expected. The form of distribution of Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic products in the Chinese market is still mainly through the traditional trade channel, which has not yet taken advantage of and promoted the e-commerce channel.
Mr. Thieu also pointed out the difficulties in infrastructure in border gate areas, logistics services in general and Lang Son in particular are still limited, not meeting development requirements. Some regulations on the method of delivery and receipt of goods with China such as trailer disconnection, Covid-19 testing … also affect the capacity and cost of customs clearance.
* As reported, on the morning of February 14, in Lang Son, “Conference to promote trade in agriculture and fisheries between Vietnam and China in a new context” took place in face-to-face and online form. Attending were Mr. Le Minh Hoan, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Mr. Ho Tien Thieu, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Lang Son province. Also attending were Ms. Doan Thu Ha, Vice Chairman of Lang Son People’s Committee; Mr. Ha Trong Hai, Vice Chairman of Lai Chau People’s Committee. In addition, there are representatives of 16 Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development of provinces across the country. At the Chinese bridge, there are: Vietnam Consulate in Nanning, Guangxi, Pingxiang Agricultural Products Promotion Association – ASEAN, Guangxi Business Association, Guangxi Flavors Association, Exhibition Center China – ASEAN products and related agencies and organizations.
* In addition to rice, China is the largest export market for Vietnamese fruits, accounting for 45.38%. In which, lychee accounts for 90% of export volume to foreign countries, dragon fruit accounts for more than 80%. Especially, with cassava and cassava products, China is the largest export market (91.47%); Rubber accounted for 71.91%. China is the third largest seafood export market, after the United States and Japan.
Source: https://vlr.vn/
