Enterprises confused in registering agricultural export codes

This fact was raised by Ms. Phan Thi Men - General Director of Sutech Science and Technology Consulting Co., Ltd. at a workshop on guiding the registration of enterprises exporting food of plant origin to China, held in Lao Cai province recently. Order 248 of the General Administration of Customs of China regulating the management of foreign enterprise registration when exporting agricultural products as food to this market and Order 249 on measures to manage food safety for import and export of China will take effect from January 1, 2022.

According to Ms. Men, after 2 years of implementation, many enterprises are still confused and struggling to meet the requirements and register codes for exporting agricultural products to China according to the regulations in orders 248 and 249.

Citing this issue, Ms. Men said: "Last year, we advised about 500 enterprises exporting to the Chinese market. During the consultation process, there was a very large exporting enterprise with a revenue of several thousand billion VND/year that applied for export to China but did not meet the requirements simply because it could not prove the source of water that the enterprise used." According to her, if the enterprise deliberately does not comply, it will be very difficult to participate in the "export game".

Pointing out some difficulties in granting and managing growing area codes and packing facility codes, Ms. Cao Thi Hoa Binh - Head of the Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of Lao Cai province said that the requirements on standards of the importing country (China) for agricultural products are increasingly strict and frequently change, causing certain difficulties for localities and export enterprises in the process of updating information as well as applying implementation. The granting of growing area codes has just come into operation, so the awareness of some subjects is still limited; the management of growing area codes is still difficult due to the lack of funding and equipment for regular inspection and supervision, and the application of digital technology to raw material areas.

Standardization is needed from the beginning.

In addition to the requirements for registering to export food of plant origin to China under Order 248 and Order 249, Vietnamese enterprises must also comply with regulations when participating in the Free Trade Agreement signed by 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and 5 ASEAN partner countries: Japan, Korea, China, Australia and New Zealand on November 15, 2020 (referred to as RCEP bloc).

China is Vietnam's largest agricultural export market in this bloc. Currently, our country has 12 types of agricultural products allowed to be exported to China, including traditional products including mango, longan, lychee, rambutan, jackfruit and dragon fruit. Some new fruits allowed to be exported in recent years include mangosteen (2019), black jelly (2020), durian, sweet potato (2022), banana (2022), watermelon (2023) and coconut (2024). Passion fruit and chili are currently under temporary regulations, while items such as citrus fruits, medicinal herbs and frozen fruits are still under negotiation.

According to Mr. Luong Ngoc Quang - representative of the Department of International Cooperation and Communications (Department of Plant Protection), the Chinese market is applying strict control measures on goods crossing the border, especially small-scale trade transactions. To ensure exports, exporters need to negotiate opening for each individual product and re-sign the export protocol for traditional fruits....

According to Mr. Ngo Xuan Nam - Deputy Director of the Vietnam SPS Office, currently, export enterprises have not really complied with the regulations of importers. Producers in some places still use pesticides, antibiotics, and fertilizers that are not in accordance with instructions. "There is no other way but to strengthen links in the direction of co-management of food safety and quality, contributing to standardization right from the input materials. Only when each stage fulfills its responsibilities, will Vietnamese agriculture escape the fear of changes in the import market" - Mr. Nam emphasized.