Five Vietnamese agricultural and food products brought under EU control
VOV.VN - A total of five Vietnamese agricultural and food products are now subject to EU control when being exported to this highly lucrative market, including bell peppers, instant noodles, durian, okra, and dragon fruit.
Ngo Xuan Nam, deputy director of the Vietnam Sanitary and Phytosanitary Notification Authority and Enquiry Point (SPS Vietnam), said the SPS Vietnam Office has received notification of the EU from the WTO Secretariat on the temporary strengthening of official controls and emergency measures governing the entry of certain goods from some third countries into the bloc.
Regarding this announcement, the nation has five agricultural and food products which are subject to the EU control when exported to this market.
Compared to the announcement in the second half of 2023, the country has four items, including okra, instant noodles, bell peppers, and dragon fruit, which still maintain the same inspection frequency as the previous period. Only durian products require an additional inspection frequency of 10%.
According to statistical data compiled by the Vietnam SPS Office, in the last six months of 2023, the nation only had three shipments of durian that violated EU regulations. Therefore, the EU has moved to put this item under control.
Nam said that the fact that durian is subject to a 10% inspection frequency will not have great impact on exports as in agricultural trade it is normal to be controlled at border areas for agricultural products. Agricultural and food products imported into the nation are also controlled in accordance to Vietnamese law, he added.
According to the General Department of Customs, as of November, 2023, Vietnamese durian exports reached nearly US$2.2 billion, an increase of 4.8 times compared to the same period from 2022. In addition to China, the country’s durian exports to the EU recorded a drastic upturn.
Specifically, fresh durian exports to the Czech Republic soared by more than 28,000%, ranking fourth among the countries importing the most durians from Vietnam. Elsewhere, exports to France surged by 32%.
According to EU regulations, every six months, the European Parliament and the European Council will meet to consider making rules related to temporary increases and decreases in official control measures when importing certain foods and feeds of non-animal origin from certain third countries into the bloc.
