China tightens control over farm imports, Vietnamese farmers suffer

Prices of Vietnamese fruit such as dragon fruit, durian, passion fruit, and jackfruit have fallen sharply as a result of the new Chinese policy on tightening control over farm imports.

The latest report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) showed that the 2019 durian harvesting in Dak Lak finished in November. Farmers are not happy about the crop as the durian price fell by VND20,000 per kilogram.

The price fall is attributed to the Chinese decision to tighten control over imports. Durian is not a product that can be exported through official channels to China. Merchants collected durian at VND40,000 per kilogram at the beginning of the crop, and the price went up a little to VND55,000 per kilogram later.

The price of passion fruit is also on the decrease, now hovering around VND7,000-8,000 per kilogram for A- and B-class products.

Meanwhile, the price of dragon fruit at the gardens in Binh Thuan province is always at below VND10,000 per kilogram and it sometimes falls to VND5,000. Farmers fear that the prices would not go up in Tet sale season which is coming in a couple of weeks.

Prices of Vietnamese fruit such as dragon fruit, durian, passion fruit, and jackfruit have fallen sharply as a result of the new Chinese policy on tightening control over farm imports.

Jackfruit is facing the same situation. The jackfruit price in Mekong Delta has dropped by 50 percent compared with one month before to the 4-month deepest low.

In Can Tho City and neighboring provinces of Vinh Long and Hau Giang, the first-class jackfruit is priced at VND20,000 per kilogram, while the second-class products are sold at VND12,000 only.

Explaining this, MARD said the supply increases significantly because farmers have expanded the growing area, while merchants lower the collection because of the export growth slowdown.

A report of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) showed that Vietnam exported $3.5 billion worth of vegetables and fruits in the first 11 months of 2019, a decrease of 0.6 percent compared with the same period 2018.

China remained the biggest export market for Vietnam which consumed 66.8 percent of total exports ($2.08 billion). However, the vegetable and fruit exports to the market dropped sharply by 13.7 percent compared with the same period last year.

While Vietnam’s exports to China decreased, its imports from the country increased by 10.1 percent.

Though the exports to the US, EU, Japan, South Korea and Thailand increased significantly, this could not offset the decrease in the Chinese market.

Experts said it is necessary to accelerate the registration of planting area codes and packaging codes so as to export more to China. Vietnam needs to improve the quality of agricultural products, especially hygiene and safety to meet the rigorous standards of the European market and other fastidious markets.