Vietnam still imports products despite domestic oversupply

Vietnam spends tens of billions of dollars to import products already abundant in the domestic market.

The latest report of the General Department of Customs (GDC) showed that from January to mid-October, Vietnam spent $655 million, or 42 percent higher than the same period of last year, to import vegetables and fruits, while the figure is expected to climb to $1 billion by the end of the year.

Vietnam imports maize, worth $1.2 billion, soybeans $510 million and rubber $495 million.

The imports were mostly from China. Vietnam, for example, imported $147 million worth of vegetables and fruits from China, higher than the $97 million of the same period last year. It also imported $45 million worth of seafood and $36 million worth of rubber.

Most of the vegetables and fruits imported en masse from China can be grown domestically. Onion, oranges and lemons, which Vietnamese farmers have to throw away in high season, still are imported from China all year round. Meanwhile, apples, pears, mangoes and grapes are imported in season, about hundreds of tons a day.

According to the Lang Son provincial Plant Quarantine Sub-department, about 200 tons of vegetables and fruits from China cross the border gates to penetrate Vietnam every day.

The reports by the customs agencies at Tan Thanh Border Gate, Lao Cai and Cat Lai in HCM City all showed that the import prices are surprisingly low. However, in the domestic market, they are sold at prices 2-20 times higher. Potatoes, for example, are priced at VND1,700 per kilo in high season, but sold at VND15,000-30,000 in the south.

Nguyen Minh Phong, a renowned economist, pointed out that domestic production has been threatened by cheap Chinese products.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has had difficulties in preventing smuggled goods and low-quality products.

Vietnamese consumers tend to turn their backs to Chinese farm produce, which, in their view, mean low-quality and toxic products.

However, Chinese produce still can penetrate the domestic market and are being sold as Vietnamese produce.

Nguyen Quoc Vong, a renowned agriculture expert, confirmed that Chinese goods, which have low prices but cannot satisfy the requirements on food hygiene or compete directly with domestic products, remain a headache for Vietnam’s agriculture production.

Strengthening technical barriers to prevent low-quality imports, according to experts, is the best solution.

“If we can do this, Chinese low-quality products won’t be able to penetrate Vietnam,” Vong said, believing that in the immediate time, it is necessary to impose basic GAP standards on imported farm produce.

Nam Lich / vietnamnet