HANOI: As a result of a series of free trade agreements that have slashed import duties, fruit imports into Vietnam skyrocketed in the first seven months of this year.
Fruit imports cost the country $420.74 million in the first seven months, jumping 36.4 percent year-on-year, the Voice of Vietnam reported on Sunday 4 September, quoting data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Thailand was the country’s main supplier in that period with an import value of $163 million, up 70 percent year-on-year, followed by China with $102.52 million (up nearly 30 percent), and the U.S. $41.2 million. Notably, imports from Australia surged 212 percent to $24.6 million.
According to Lang Son Province’s Customs Department, Vietnam imported 4,800 tons of small mangoes through Lang Son’s Tan Thanh Border Gate with China from February 1-August 1 this year. The declared import price at Tan Thanh was around $160/ton or VND3,600 (16 cents)/kg, but the fruit was sold for up to VND35,000/kg in Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnam has abolished import taxes for most fruit from China and ASEAN nations under the ASEAN-China FTA and the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement.
