Vietnamese fresh mango is officially licensed to export to the US market

On 18/02/2019, the Plant Protection Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to hold a ceremony to announce the official permit grant for the exportation of Vietnamese fresh mango fruit to the US market.

At the announcement ceremony, Mr. Hoang Trung, Director General of the Plant Protection Department said: Viet Nam officially submitted the application file for export of fresh mango fruit to the US market in 2009. Up to now, after nearly 10 years, Vietnamese mango has completed all procedures to be allowed to export to the US. This is the sixth fruit of Viet Nam (after dragon fruit, rambutan, longan, lychee and star apple) allowed to export to the US market.

According to the Department of Crop Production, by 2018, the total area of ​​mango nationwide is estimated at over 87,000 ha. Mango is currently grown in 59/63 provinces and cities of the country. In particular, the Mekong Delta is the largest mango-growing region including 13 mango planting provinces, cities and/or areas, accounting for 48% of the total nationwide mango planting area, followed by the Southeast region with about 17,000 ha (accounting for nearly 20%) and the Northern Midland and Mountainous (Son La as the main area) with an area of ​​over 12,000 ha (accounting for 13%).

So far, Vietnamese mango fruit has been exported to 40 countries around the world. In which the main markets are China and other developed countries such as Europe, Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, etc. However, mango exports still accounts for a small proportion of the total mango production nationwide (only about 5%, 95% is for domestic consumption. ). The Plant Protection Department has also provided production codes for 99 Southern and 6 Northern planting areas to meet export requirements of Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, and 120 area codes for export to China.

At the ceremony, Mr. Conrad Estrada, APHIS Regional Director expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the Plant Protection Department of Viet Nam in negotiating and promulgating technical standards for fresh mango export of Viet Nam to the United States. Mr. Conrad Estrada affirmed that he would continue to work closely with Viet Nam, especially in providing technical assistance on plant quarantine, so that Viet Nam can step by step monitor and apply the quarantine conditions in compliance with US standards.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said that Viet Nam's mango fruit officially permitted to export to the United States is really good news for Vietnamese agricultural sector and farmers right in the beginning of the year. This event continues to affirm the position of Viet Nam's agricultural products in the international market, especially fruit products that have gradually improved the quality and design. It is worth noting that Vietnamese mangoes have now met stringent technical requirements and food safety conditions of the very difficult market like the United States. This will create good conditions for Vietnamese mangoes to reach further to other export markets around the world.

Acknowledging that fruits in general and mangoes in particular will have many advantages and plenty of export potential in the coming years, Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh expressed his expectation that " farmers, agricultural sector, localities as well as businesses involved in export of mangoes shall further improve not only in quantity but also product design and quality, especially food safety to meet technical standards and regulations on plant quarantine to promote mango fruit export in a sustainable manner”.

In recent years, fruit and vegetable export of Viet Nam has grown rapidly. By 2018, fruit and vegetable export reached over USD 3.8 billion, becoming one of the top 5 agricultural export products of Viet Nam with export turnover of over USD 3 billion. Vietnamese fruits are now exported to more than 60 countries and territories.