Vietnam ’s litchi has been accepted to enter Japan , US andAustralia , bringing a great news for both farmers and exporters.

The country successfully exported the firstconsignment of nearly 20 tonnes of litchi to Japan this year, opening upa new hope to increase its litchi exports in 2015, said the VietnamEconomic News reported.
The US Department of Agriculturerecently granted a licence for Vietnam to export longan and litchi tothe US from October 6, 2014. Vietnam expects it can export to theUS about 600 tonnes of litchi and 1,200 tonnes of longan each year.

Ata regional export promotion conference recently held by the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade in Hanoi , Nguyen Khanh, Director of the Bac GiangTrade Promotion Centre, said that the province recently received aletter from the Australian Embassy in Vietnam informing that Vietnamhad been allowed to export litchi to Australia from 2015.

Thesefacts show that there are opportunities for Vietnam to diversifythe export markets for litchi to prevent its dependence on onetraditional market. However, it will not be easy for Vietnamese litchito enter these markets as they have very strict requirements in terms ofquality.

Nguyen Khanh said that to prepare for exporting litchito these markets, Bac Giang province was making a shift from growinglitchi according to VietGap standards to applying GlobalGap standards on100ha of litchi plantations. The province expects that about 500-800tonnes of litchi will be produced according to GlobalGap standards nextyear.

“In recent times, Bac Giang province coordinated with HaiDuong province to provide farmers with training on litchi growingtechniques to ensure their quality and hygiene. Thanks to these effortsand the post-harvest technology, Vietnamese litchi is expected to meetthe strict requirements set by importing countries,” Nguyen Khanh wasquoted as saying.

Along with ensuring hygiene and safety,choosing a suitable post-processing preservation technology is also animportant factor directly affecting litchi exports, because countrieswhich recently opened their markets to Vietnamese litchi are locatedrather far from Vietnam , requiring greater time for transportation.

In2014, the Institute for Regional Research and Development under theMinistry of Science and Technology has applied the CAS technology topreserve litchi harvested from plantations in Bac Giang province forpilot export to Japan . The ABI Group ( Japan ) is the soleinventor of this technology. CAS is an advanced technology helpingoptimize the preservation of seafood, agricultural products and food.This technology allows maintaining the freshness, tissue/cell structureand original colour of products even many years after being defrosted,depending on each kind of product.

Thanks to the CAS technology,nearly 20 tonnes of Vietnamese litchi have been successfully exportedto Japan at prices ranging from JPY300-650 (60,000-130,000 VND) per10 litchis. Examination results announced by the ABI Group showed thatVietnamese litchi preserved with the CAS technology basically metJapan ’s quality requirements for this kind of fruit. Japanese expertsrecognised the higher quality of Vietnamese litchi compared with Chineseand Malaysian alternatives. This technology allows litchi to be wellpreserved for 11 months, promising Vietnam opportunities to exportlitchi to difficult-to-please markets such as West European countries.

TheCAS technology has big advantages but requires costly investment.Nguyen Khanh said that Bac Giang province was considering theapplication of a preservation technology from Israel . Not as costlyas CAS, this technology requires investment of about 10 billion VND topreserve 1-10 tonnes of litchis for about two months.

Litchi hasbeen selected to be one of the seven products of the northern region,together with tea, textiles and garments, footwear, bamboo and rattanproducts, logistics and tourism products, to receive support from theDecentralized Trade Support Services for Strengthening the InternationalCompetitiveness of Vietnamese Small and Medium-sized Enterprisesprogramme.

This programme will be implemented from now until2017. Under the programme, litchi businesses will be assisted to promotesustainable production in accordance with international standards; themanagement over processing facilities will be tightened to ensure thequality of export products; trade promotion activities will beorganized; and the links between businesses and farmers will bepromoted.

Hopefully, Vietnamese litchi businesses will make the most of these opportunities to promote exports to many countries.-VNA