VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam and China have signed a protocol on phytosanitary requirements on Vietnamese rice and rice bran exports to China. The protocol sets stricter sterilization inspection of exports.

From May 30, 2016, when the protocol takes effect, all the rice export consignments to China must satisfy the phytosanitary requirements and they must be sterilized to be sure that nine harmful biological objects are eliminated.

Le Van Banh, former head of the Mekong River Delta Rice Institute, commented that in principle, farm exports to China or any other countries, must be quarantined and disinfected.

Vietnam and China have signed a protocol on phytosanitary requirements on Vietnamese rice and rice bran exports to China. The protocol sets stricter sterilization inspection of exports.

In the past, since there was no such a protocol, Vietnam’s rice exports found it hard to enter the Chinese market because of complicated phytosanitary procedures. This stalled Vietnam’s rice exports and Vietnamese exporters had to export rice through unofficial channels – across border gates.

Therefore, the newly signed protocol is beneficial for Vietnam. “The protocol is what Vietnam has wanted for a long time. Quarantine is a must. And once the two sides can reach an agreement on the issue, this will help boost Vietnam’s rice exports.”

The Vietnam Plant Protection Agency has provided a list of nine sterilizing units to China for approval.

Under the protocol, instead of carrying out the inspection over Vietnam’s rice in China, Chinese agencies will send their officials to Vietnam to supervise production, processing and sterilization in Vietnam, before rice is shipped to China.

Duong Van Chin from Loc Troi Group, a rice exporter, said Vietnamese exporters must satisfy the requirements set by import countries.

Loc Troi now has 100,000 hectares of safe rice growing area which can satisfy requirements to export to China. If each of the Vietnam Food Association’s members can develop a growing area of 10,000 hectares, Vietnam would have 1.4 million hectares which allows Vietnam to export its rice to any country in the world.

Developing material areas is not what many rice exporters do. They simply collect rice from domestic sources and export to other countries. 

In many cases, the exports are rejected by importers as they discover high plant protection residues in rice. This causes a loss of billions of dong to every container of refused rice.

“Once China tightens inspection over imports from Vietnam, Vietnamese companies will have to change to satisfy the requirements of the partners,” he said.

An analyst said that the protocol has been signed in the context of Thailand, the biggest rice exporter, planning to sell 11.4 million tons of rice in stockpile to earn $2.8 billion.

However, Chin said there was no need to worry because Thailand is selling old products, and Vietnam offers new rice.

Dat Viet