Hundreds of tons of agricultural products in stock are at risk of being destroyed, resulting in heavy losses to enterprises.
Mr. Huynh Canh, Chairman of Binh Thuan Dragon Fruit Association in Lam Dong Province, said that in the past, exporters themselves undertook the testing of pesticide residues and the issuance of export certificates to the European market or had third parties do so.
However, the European market has recently discovered that some batches of Vietnamese dragon fruit had pesticide residues. This led to further checks, which revealed that the certification process was flawed.
Specifically, the export certificates were issued by businesses themselves instead of a Vietnamese government agency.
As a result, Europe is now demanding a re-implementation of the certification process. This change is severely impacting Vietnamese businesses exporting dragon fruit and other plant-based food products.
Multiple enterprises exporting dragon fruit, beans and corn indicated that from July 1 until now, they have been unable to conduct transactions.
According to Mr. Tran Dinh Trung, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thuan Tien Dragon Fruit Cooperative in Ham Liem Commune, Lam Dong Province, is concerned that more than 50 tons of dragon fruit in stock cannot be exported. The delay in issuing the certificate could cause billions of dong in losses for the cooperative.
Similarly, a representative of Son Tra Company Limited in Lam Dong Province informed that the company's frozen storage warehouses are now storing dozens of tons of dragon fruit. If the certificate of export is not granted within the next five days, the entire fruits will have to be destroyed resulting in hundreds of millions of dong in losses.
As reported by the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Lam Dong Province, with an area of over 26,000 hectares and an output of over 600,000 tons a year, the locality is a key dragon fruit growing area in the country.
If the delay in granting the certificate of export extends, both businesses and farmers will suffer heavy losses.
Explaining the current bottleneck, Chairman of Binh Thuan Dragon Fruit Association in Lam Dong Province Huynh Canh stated that the procedures for exporting dragon fruit to the European market existed beforehand.
Currently, the European side is requesting a change in the unit responsible for inspecting pesticide residues and issuing certificates, shifting from private companies to Government agencies.
In response, on July 11, the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment issued an official letter assigning the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety to carry out administrative procedures for food safety inspection of exported plant-based foods and issue the certificate according to European requirements.
However, as of July 14, the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Management Department sent a document to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment reporting that the department has not yet received any specific guidance from the ministry to implement.
To promptly address the difficulties and obstacles faced by businesses, especially those exporting dragon fruit, beans, corn and other products to the European market, the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Management Department has proposed that the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment soon issue regulations on necessary documents and procedures for issuing the certificate that meets European requirements. This would provide the legal basis needed for implementation.
