Consignments of chili exported to China must meet the requirements of growing area code and phytosanitary with methyl bromide and cold treatment.
(Fresh Chilli is being planted largely in Lang Son province)
According to the Department of Plant Protection, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on March 8, the Vietnam Trade Office in Beijing announced that the General Department of Customs of China has allowed the re-export of Vietnam’s fresh chili.
This is the result of a negotiation process that starts with the development of research methods and the direct conduct of experiments to determine the treatment parameters of the Plant Protection Department.
In October 2021, the General Department of Customs of China issued a written agreement with the technical measures proposed by the Department and conducted an online inspection of Vietnamese packing facilities.
After the negotiation process and overcoming the issues raised by China, up to now, five fresh chili export companies are recognized including Thanh An Onion Company Limited, Cai Lan Trading, and Import-Export Joint Stock Company, Cam Long – Dong Thap Company Limited, Vinh Binh Agricultural Company Limited, andTan Dong Agricultural Products Company Limited.
In the coming time, China will provide instructions to recognize more packing facilities. The Plant Protection Department will coordinate with the localities to guide processing and packing facilities that have the need to export chili to the Chinese market to ensure meeting the requirements by China, submit the list to the General Department of Customs of China for approval.
Currently, the Plant Protection Department is negotiating to sign the protocol for exporting chili to the Chinese market.
However, the above-mentioned companies may export chili to the Chinese market if the consignment meets the requirements in the draft protocol, especially meeting the requirements of phytosanitary including methyl bromide and cold treatment.
The treatment with methyl bromide is at a dose of 32 g/m3 in two hours or 18 g/m3 in five hours. Cold treatment is carried out after methyl bromide treatment at 0.56-2.77°C in four days or 3.33-8.33°C in 11 days.
The Plant Protection Department said that they will issue a phytosanitary certificate if meeting the following conditions:
- Goods are from growing areas issued by the Plant Protection Department and packing facilities are recognized by China.
- The phytosanitary treatment process based on the phytosanitary certificate is conducted by service providers that are qualified for phytosanitary treatment.
- The content of additional notice on the phytosanitary certificate is agreed with the General Department of Customs of China.
Earlier, in 2020, China requested Vietnam to suspend chili export due to harmful fruit flies. The Chinese authorities require that chili imported from Vietnam be produced in areas that do not have fruit flies or pass phytosanitary prior to export.