Hanoi (VNA) – Officials of the VietnameseMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) had a working session withrepresentatives of the Chinese General Administration of Customs in Hanoi onJune 18, discussing measures to boost bilateral trade of farm produce.

According to Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agricultureand Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam, since the beginning of this year, Chinahas changed some regulations in goods imports such as traceability of productsand food safety.

The MARD has actively worked with Chineseministries, departments and customs to update information on regulations inagro-forestry-fishery imports, Nam said.

As businesses of both countries have greatdemand for import and export of agricultural products, the ministry and theChinese side will co-organise a workshop to exchange information on foodsafety, animal and plant quarantine, and regulations on management and controlof agro-forestry-fishery imports and exports in Ho Chi Minh City on June 20.

Nam revealed that more than 300 businesses haveregistered to participate in the event which is expected to help enterpriseschange their mindset in production to create high-quality and competitiveproducts.

Long Yushan from the Nanning Customs Bureau underthe General Administration of Customs of China said, at the upcoming workshop,Chinese relevant agencies will provide information on regulations on animal andplant management and quarantine, especially for dairy, aquatic products andfruits.

She hoped the two sides will help local businessesto access the Chinese market and understand its requirements to sustainably promotebilateral trade.

In 2018, Vietnam exported 8.6 billion USD worthof agro-forestry-fishery products to China. Three groups of goods - fruits andvegetables, rubber, wood and wooden products – saw their export turnovers surpassingthe 1 billion USD benchmark.

The Southeast Asian country spent 2.47 billionUSD importing farm produce from China last year.

By the end of April 2019, Vietnam earned 2.64billion USD from exporting agro-forestry-fishery products to China, ayear-on-year decline of 8.3 percent.

At present, nine fresh fruits from Vietnam are shippedthrough official channels to China, namely dragon fruit, watermelon, lychee,longan, banana, mango, jackfruit, rambutan, and mangosteen.

On April 26, 2019, the two countries signed aprotocol on opening the market for mangosteen and another on exportingVietnamese dairy products to China.

The MARD is proposing China open the market forother Vietnamese fruits such as durian, passion fruit, avocado, grapefruit,coconut, custard apple, and rose apple.

China has announced the exemption of tariffs for33 aquatic products under the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement, includinglobster, tiger shrimp, marine shrimp, frozen pangasius, basa fish, and oceantuna.

Currently, 701 Vietnamese aquatic firms areallowed to export products to China.-VNA