Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Many of Vietnam’sagricultural products, especially rice, vegetables and cassava, havefaced barriers preventing their export to China, according to theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The MARD’s Agricultural Product Processing andMarket Development Department said cassava is the latest export fromVietnam to China to face strict controls on labelling, packaging andinformation as well as a tightening of import procedures at border gates.

The department said cassava exports to Chinaare expected to be reduced in the second quarter of this year due tolower demand.

Cassava is one of the agricultural products tohave seen billions of USD of exports in recent years. But in the first fivemonths of this year, the sector earned revenue of about 414 million USDfrom shipping 1.08 million tonnes, down 11 percent in value and 17.6 percent involume year on year, vietnamnet.vn reported.

China continues to be the largest export marketfor Vietnamese cassava, but the first four months of this year saw exportsof the product to the Chinese market fall by 16.4 percent in volume and 3.5percent in value compared to the same period of 2018.

Previously, the most populous market in the worldalso strengthened barriers to Vietnamese rice exports.

From the beginning of 2018, China increased importduties on sticky rice from 5 percent to 50 percent and added stricter controlson other rice imports.

Only 20 out of 150 rice export enterprises inVietnam have received permission to bring their products to China.

Le Thanh Hoa, Deputy Director of the AgriculturalProduct Processing and Market Development Department, said the new fees andstandards have made it hard to sell rice in the traditional export market.

Vietnam exported a total of 2.83 million tonnes ofrice in the first five months of this year, earning 1.21 billion USD. Thesenumbers were down 4 percent in volume and 20.7 percent in value year on year.

China dropped to Vietnam's seventh largest riceexport market in the first two months of this year, according to the GeneralDepartment of Customs

Although there are many trade barriers, Hoa stillexpects Vietnam's high quality rice exports to China to increase after Chinahas announced that 22 Vietnamese enterprises will be permitted to exportto this market.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade will alsonegotiate rice export quotas to the Republic of Korea.

Vietnam expects to increase rice exports to theIndonesian market in the third and fourth quarters. It has also opened talks withthe Philippines on contracts to import the product, according to thedepartment.

China has promoted traceable origins andquality management and has asked fruit exporters to register codesshowing where  the fruits were planted. The changes have createddisadvantages for Vietnamese fruit exporters, especially for those thatsell fresh local fruits. For instance, exports of pineapples from Lao Caiand bananas from Lai Chau have slumped severely.

The vegetable and fruit sector promoted exports tohighly demanding countries in the first four months of this yearincluding Australia (up 39.9 percent), the Netherlands (up 29.22percent), the Republic of Korea (up 25.53 percent) and France (up 24.81percent).

Recently, Vietnamese mangoes have begun to beexported to the US. Mangoes are Vietnam's sixth fruit licensedfor export to the US market after dragon fruit, rambutan, longan, lycheeand star apple.

The export value of Vietnamese fruits andvegetables in the first five months of 2019 reached 1.83 billion USD, a year-on-yearincrease of 10.3 percent.

Experts in the sector said the efforts to findalternative markets will help Vietnam's agricultural sector reduce itsdependence on the Chinese market and grow despite China's new trade barriers.-VNS/VNA