Malaysia was a traditional market of Binh Duong-based Agri Development Co Ltd. In the past, as the company regularly exported chili to the country. However, in September 2019, when the country began prohibiting imported chili products. The company that imported the products said local agencies found plant protection residues in the products. 

But tge products still could be exported to Malaysia if they had a Thai brand. This means that Vietnam’s products have to ‘make a detour’ to enter the Malaysian market, and the costs would be higher.

These two examples were related at a seminar in HCM City discussing solutions to improve competitiveness and promote farm, forestry and seafood produce held several days ago.

According to the Binh Duong Customs Agency, Malaysia has lifted the chili import ban since April 2021, so enterprises and exporters need to carefully learn information about chili exports. An official of the customs agency said that Malaysian authorities requested certification on cultivation areas of the products imported to the country. 

Enterprises need to contact the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to get the certificates.

On the export of farm produce, Bui Hoang Yen from the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) stressed that not only Malaysia, but all export markets prevent products with pesticide residue from entering their countries, especially European countries.

According to Dinh Viet Tu from MARD, many companies and processing workshops, after obtaining certificates on product quality, have neglected implementing rules on food hygiene.

Regarding the example about chili that has to make a detour to enter Malaysia, Tu said the importing country may think the product is not safe enough. There should be solutions to verify if the consignment of products truly has problems. 

Lessons

According to the General Department of Customs (GDC), Vietnam’s farm produce is present in over 180 markets.

In 2022, Vietnam set a goal of obtaining an export growth rate of 2.8-3 percent compared with 2021 and obtaining total export turnover of forestry, farm and seafood of $27.88 billion, an increase of 13.9 percent over the same period last year.

The statistics were "beautiful", but the story of one enterprise – Agri Development – was enough to show the importance and necessity of ensuring export product quality.

Tran Van Hai, director of Vina Coco in Dong Nai province, specializing in making coconut jelly, said the company once exported some containers of processed products to Japan and the products were rejected. The reason was that some ants and a few hairs were found in some packages. 

The company then suggested changing them with other packages, but the partner required completely new products to replace the faulty packages.

Hai advised exporters to be very careful when doing business with export markets, especially choosy ones.

It’s normal that partners reject products and require new products instead. However, what Vietnamese enterprises need to do is settle the root of the problems.

The company is now following very strict procedures to control coconut quality, from the coconut picking in Ben Tre and Tra Vinh to the processing of products. The partners also reject products with the size of 5mm x 5mm if they order 3mm x 3mm.

The strict pursuance of production procedures has been rewarded. About 8,000 tons of coconut jelly are exported to 19 markets every year and the high 25-30 percent growth rate is expected this year compared with 2021. 

Meanwhile, Japan has become a loyal buyer, buying 2,000 tons of products just in H1 2022.

“If you can conquer the Japanese market, you will find it easy to penetrate other markets,” Hai said, adding that a highly disciplined production process is the top factor that exporters want to see.

Tran Chung