31 Aug 2012 Intellasia Finance Vietnam - Hong Kong Business ...

BUSINESS
Vietnam finance & business 31 August 2012
Chinese grapes,
potatoes come under
strict scrutiny
Coffee exports face
tough challenges
In 2011, Vietnam harvested 7.6 million hectares of paddy and produced 26.5 million
tonnes of rice with the average yield of 3.49 tonne per hectare, showing a year-on-year
increase of 0.94 percent.
Asean is now the world's largest rice-exporting region with its export volume rising
from 110 million tonnes in the 2010-2011 crops to 128 million tonnes in the 2021-2022
crops.
Vietnam and Thailand are two major suppliers of rice to Africa, ADB added.
http://english.vovnews.vn/Home/Vietnam-to-be-the-worlds-third-largest-rice-exporter/20128/141609.vov
31/AUG/2012 INTELLASIA | TUOI TRE
As of the beginning of September, grapes and potatoes imported from China will be
closely monitored and supervised for food hygiene and safety standards, the Vietnamese
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced Thursday.
The scrutiny came after two samples of grapes shipped from China to the northern
province of Lao Cai, and one of potatoes to HCM City, were last month found exceeding
the allowed amount of pesticides by three to five times.
"Products that fail to pass strict scrutiny will be forced to re-export," said Hoang Trung,
deputy head of the ministry's Plant Protection Agency.
Meanwhile, Chinese grapes are still on sale in markets across HCM City at exorbitant
prices thanks to their "grown-in-US" disguise.
Tho, who runs a fruit booth at Pham Van Hai market in Tan Binh District, said he can
sell as many as 60 kilogram of Chinese grapes during the days of high demand.
Chinese grapes are available everywhere at VND130,000 a kilogram (US$6), which
consumers say is too expensive.
To answer consumers' questions on the high prices, traders simply say the fruits are
from the US, and one fruit seller added that"we will never sell Chinese grapes, even
when prices are dirt cheap."
There has been some 100 tonnes of grapes shipped from China to the wholesale market
of Thu Duc, according to its deputy director Nguyen Thanh Ha.
Meanwhile, Chinese potatoes only take a modest place on shelves in markets citywide.
"Potatoes only account for a small proportion of total fruits and vegetables imported
from China," said Ha.
Traders said they no longer sell Chinese potatoes as there is almost no demand.
"As consumers prefer Da Lat potatoes, no traders sell the Chinese products," said
Hoan, a small trader in Tan Dinh market.
Da Lat potatoes are available at VND40,000 a kilogram, while the Chinese counterparts
only fetch a quarter of the rate.
http://tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitrenews/business/chinese-grapes-potatoes-comeunder-strict-scrutiny-1.84817
31/AUG/2012 INTELLASIA | VOV
Members of the Vietnam Coffee-Cocoa Association (Vicofa) will have to pay $2 for
every tonne of coffee they export as of October this year.
At a recent meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD),
Vicofa Chair Luong Van Tu said that the Association expects to receive at least $1 million
from the 600,000 tonnes of coffee exported by its members every year.
But the main question is how effectively the money will be used to support exporters
when the coffee prices keep dropping sharply.
Tu suggested that 50-70 percent of the funds should be used in growing coffee, 30 percent
in stockpiling products and the rest in promoting trade.
If there is no reinvestment in coffee production, Vietnam will lose its current status as
the world's biggest producer and exporter of coffee and fall to fourth or fifth place, he
warned.
The plan would have taken effect sine January 1, 2012 but it was then cancelled due to
strong opposition from Vicofa members.
Intellasia 31 August 2012 37 / 46