VietNamNet Bridge – Every morning at Van Noi Market, pile after pile of colourful, shiny fruit and vegetables are arranged by traders, ready and waiting for the first customers of the day. The attractive looking produce, mostly imported from China, now dominates the local market, which was once proud of its reputation for safe, clean vegetables.


Vegetables for sale at a wholesale market in Ha Noi. Imported products, which look attractive, are dominating sales at domestic markets. (Photo: VNS)
It has become common in Ha Noi for imported goods to flood the major wholesale markets in the build up to Tet. From two in the morning, Long Bien market, the city's biggest fruit and vegetable wholesale market, is over-run with sellers and dealers. Dozen of trucks carrying all sorts of fruit and vegetables arrive at the market, and are quickly unloaded. With orders agreed in advance, the frenzied activity dies down after a couple of hours.


"The fruit and vegetables at this market are very fresh and about 10-15 per cent cheaper than at other retail markets. All of them were imported through Lao Cai and Lang Son border gates," said Nguyen Thi Phuong, a wholesale stand owner who sells bamboo roots, garlic and chilli peppers.


Nguyen Thi Cuc, a trader from Van Noi Market in the Dong Anh suburbs of Ha Noi, said that imported vegetables were dominating the market because they were cheaper, fresher, shinier and more eye-catching.


However, according to Head of Hai Ba Trung District's Medical Office Cao Thi Hoa, vegetables that looked shiny and green had normally been sprayed with preservative chemicals. "These chemicals often contain heavy metallic substances which can harm the liver and cause cancer if they are ingested over a long period of time," she said.


According to statistics from the General Department of Viet Nam Customs, around 500 tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables were imported through the Lao Cai and Lang Son border gates every day.


These goods are shipped to wholesale markets in Ha Noi and then distributed to retail markets across the capital.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Cao Duc Phat said the reason that imported products were dominating the market was because local farmers had not been able to harvest their produce in time for the New Year demand, while domestic produce was still not competitive with imported goods in terms of both cost and appearance.

Resident Phung Thi Bang from Ha Dong District said: "I buy vegetables from China because it's cheaper and they look fresher but I don't know about the safety aspect."


In another case, Nguyen Mai Linh from Ha Noi said she usually avoided buying fruit that was tagged with American or Australian origin stamps. She also tried not to buy tangerines from China, "but it is very hard to know which are and which are not," said Linh.


Nguyen Van Tuan, head of the Quarantine Station on the northern border of Lao Cai Province, said that his station was only responsible for checking for poisonous insects on imported vegetables, not preservatives or other chemicals. That should be a task for the Medical Inspection Station, he said.


But a representative from the Lao Cai Medical Inspection Station denied it was their role and said it was the responsibility of Lao Cai's Food Safety and Hygiene Office. This office, however, said they were not officially assigned to inspect the quality of imported fruit and vegetables.


Tran Thi Mieng, deputy head of MARD's Department of Agro-Forestry-Fishery Product Processing, Trading and Salt Industry, said the fact that Chinese products arrived in Viet Nam was normal, particularly given that Viet Nam had joined the World Trade Organisation. "We should, however, build a technical trade barrier with countries that export fruit and vegetables to Viet Nam," she added.


VietNamNet/Viet Nam News