Hanoi (VNA) 💃- Aprotocol on Vietnam’s black jelly exports to China was signed during ateleconference between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development andthe General Administration of Customs of China on December 8.

Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuonghailed Minister Ni Yuefeng for helping accelerate the signing of the protocoland offering technical directions for appraising Vietnam’s swallow’s nestseither online or via video. He also hoped that Chinawould soon open up the market to Vietnam’s durian and sweet potato and thatboth sides could sign a protocol in that regard. In the context ofthe COVID-19 pandemic, Minister Cuong suggested the General Administrationof Customs of China conduct virtual or video inspections for those two productslike in the case of swallow’s nests to boost two-way trade. Vietnam has also completeddossiers for pomelo and passion fruits, Cuong said, urging the Chinese side toalso give priority to granting licences for those fruits.

For husbandry products, firstof all swallow’s nests, the minister asked the Chinese side to speed upprocedures so that the two sides can early sign protocols andreach consensus on the form of quarantine certificates and the granting ofcodes to qualified Vietnamese exporters. 

ಌ Minister Cuong noted that regarding dairy products, Chinese authorities havegranted licences to five Vietnamese factories to export to China. He took theoccasion to call on China to license more plants to export to China among the11 Vietnamese plants meeting requirements of the Chinese market.

China has allowed 750seafood processors, seven crab and lobster packaging establishments and 69aquatic breeding facilities of Vietnam to export to China. It also acceptsshipments of 128 kinds of aquatic products and 48 aquatic species from Vietnam. Minister Cuong suggestedChina consider allowing 54 more seafood processors and five more crab andlobster packaging establishments of Vietnam to ship their products to China,and accept an additional five aquatic products from Vietnam. Technical units should workclosely to reach consensus on the criteria for epidemic control and the use ofantiseptic, additives, and preservatives in aquatic products traded between thetwo countries, he proposed. Ni, for his part, said thetwo sides have gained positive outcomes in evaluating Vietnam's durian andsweet potato, with only on-the-spot inspection left as China cannot sendexperts to Vietnam due to COVID-19. 

He added that China hasinformed Vietnam about a risk review of its pomelo and passion fruit and hopedthat Vietnam would provide feedback shortly. 

China has also completed a risk review on Vietnam’s swallow’s nests, he said,adding that both sides can continue discussing the technical criteria forpromoting export of this product to China and that several Vietnamese dairy andseafood exporters will be licensed in the near future. 

🎃 Regarding the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), both sidesagreed that the deal will facilitate strong development of bilateral economicand trade ties in the time to come, thus contributing to the two economies.

They agreed to set up ahotline to promptly deal with trade obstacles, intensify the fight againstsmuggling, and tighten animal quarantine and quarantine capacity.

In reply to China's offer ofits hybrid rice varieties, Minister Cuong said that Vietnam will createfavourable conditions for the cultivation of those rice varieties inVietnam. 

💙 Vietnam is now China’s seventh-largest trade partner globally and the biggest inASEAN. The two countries have signed 13 documents to boost bilateral trade infarm produce.

During 2010-2019, two-waytrade in agro-forestry-fisheries grew 15 percent annually, reaching 15.7billion USD in 2019. The figure hit 11.2 billion USD over the last 10 months,8.3 billion USD of which were exports from Vietnam./.