Fresh Vietnamese longan to enter Australia
Fresh Vietnamese longan to enter Australia
The Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources recently announced the import conditions for fresh longan from Vietnam.
After a long period of negotiations and the completion of application procedures, the Australian department permitted the export of the fruit to Australia, according to the Plant Protection Department, under the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
An announcement ceremony to award the longan export certificate will be held in Hanoi this Thursday, August 29, to coincide with the visit of the Secretary of the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, Daryl Quinlivan, to Vietnam.
As such, Vietnamese longan will become the fourth fruit to be exported to Australia, following litchis, mangoes and dragon fruit.
Before importing longan into Australia, importers are required to have a valid import permit issued by the Australian agriculture regulator. Import permits are granted once all import conditions are met.
Prior to export, the shipment of longan must bear proof of having followed requirements on origin, production and export to maintain and verify the phytosanitary status of the goods. The fruit must have undergone mandatory risk management measures.
Exported longan must not contain pollutants, such as loose stems and leaves, alien seeds, soil, animal matter/parts or other extraneous material, or any other foreign matter. Goods for export must meet at least one of the secure packaging options to make consignments insect-proof and secure.
Packaged fresh longan must be labeled with sufficient identification information for the purpose of traceability, including the label “Product of Vietnam for Australia,” fruit type, packinghouse code, treatment facility code and treatment identification numbers.
Australia and Vietnam have a strong bilateral trade relationship. In 2017 and 2018, Vietnam was Australia’s seventh-largest market for agricultural exports. In the two years, total trade with Vietnam was valued at AU$9.89 billion, noted the Australian agriculture regulator on its website.
Fresh longan in Vietnam is typically sourced from small orchards. Longan is produced all year round in the southern regions, with production peaking in June and July. Meanwhile, the peak production season is from July to August in the northern regions, with some newer cultivars harvested up to early September.
Fresh longan has been shipped to many countries, including China and the United States. The Vietnamese Plant Protection Department stated that it is taking steps to support the export of the fruit to Japan and South Korea.
