Food and food export: Opportunities and challenges are intertwined

Vietnam is the world’s leading exporter of many agricultural products and foodstuffs. But the production method is still fragmented, the quality is uneven, and it is easy to face challenges when meeting the world’s standards for traceability.

Food and food export: Opportunities and challenges are intertwined

At the Workshop “Opportunities to access potential export markets of the food and food industry” jointly organized by the Food and Food Association of Ho Chi Minh City and the Investment and Trade Promotion Center of Ho Chi Minh City (ITPC) held on August 7, 2019, Mr. Pham Tuan Long – Deputy Head of Import-Export Department of agricultural, forestry and fishery products, Export Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that in 2018, export turnover value Vietnam’s key agricultural products group reached nearly 27 billion USD, accounting for nearly 11% of total export turnover.

Particularly in the first 6 months of 2019, this group of goods achieved 12.3 billion USD in export turnover, of which 5 items with a turnover of 3 billion USD or more are seafood, vegetables, coffee, cashew nuts, and rice. . Vietnam is one of the world’s highest exporters of agricultural and aquatic products, such as cashew kernels ranked first, rice ranked third, seafood ranked fifth, coffee and pepper accounted for 50-60% of the market. part of the world.

According to Mr. Long, in the coming time, import tax on goods of Vietnam’s partners in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) ) and a number of bilateral FTAs will continue to be eliminated or reduced, creating more competitive advantages for Vietnamese agricultural products.

Attending the seminar, Mr. Ramlan Osman – Sales Director of Vietnam Halal Center Company shared: “Currently, Halal-certified food (products that Muslims are allowed to use) for the market in Muslim countries have just met the requirements. almost 10% of demand. Vietnam is a country that produces coffee, rice, beans, seafood, vegetables and spices in large quantities, which will be an opportunity for businesses to exploit this market gap.

According to a representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in 2019, global trade still has unpredictable fluctuations. Along with that, the governments of countries such as the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, and EU countries have applied increasingly strict standards on food safety and environmental protection, such as tightening the level of pesticide residues. Plant protection for imported agricultural products, regulations on legal fishing… Meanwhile, Vietnam’s production of agricultural and aquatic products is still fragmented, leading to uneven quality and difficult to control. control issues of safety and difficult to apply world standards on traceability. There are products that do not meet food safety standards, affecting the image and brand of Vietnamese goods.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is coordinating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to proactively grasp technical barriers and trade protection measures of many countries to promptly inform relevant units and exporters. . In particular, the Government is planning to re-plan production areas, encourage cooperation and link production in chains…

Particularly for the export of agricultural and aquatic products to bordering countries, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has coordinated with relevant agencies to strengthen management and promptly solve arising problems, especially illegal export. The ministry coordinated with bordering provinces to create favorable conditions for the export of a number of important commodities such as rice and sugar, and discussed with the Chinese side to promptly solve the risk of congestion at the border gate when some farmers production for export in the main season” – a representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade shared.