Bac Giangs agricultural sector implements EVFTA to increase competitiveness for export pro

The European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effective from August 1, 2020. The enforcement of the deal will create favorable conditions for Vietnam’s exports, especially agricultural and fishery products. Taking this opportunity, the agriculture sector of Bac Giang province has developed plans to actively increase competitiveness for export products.

Lychees grown under the GlobalGAP process in Hong Giang commune (Luc Ngan).

Focusing on lychee, timber from planted forest

The provincial People's Committee issued Plan No. 263/KH-UBND dated September 15, 2020 on the implementation of the EVFTA. To concretize this content, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has actively designed measures to seize opportunities for the agricultural sector.

Le Ba Thanh, Deputy Director of the department, said that the EU is a market with strict quality requirements. Therefore, products that want to enter this market have the only way of improving their quality to meet the standards set by partners. Bac Giang also has a number of products with the potential to export to the EU such as grapefruit, herbal medicine, longan and processed vegetables, but at first, it should focus on two main products: lychee and timber from planted forest.

Bac Giang is home to the largest lychee growing area in the country. Lychee has been consumed in the US, EU and many other countries, showing positive signs and opening up new directions, especially when the EVFTA comes into effect.

To seize the opportunities, right in the lychee crop in 2021, on the basis of more than 200 hectares granted codes for meeting the GlobalGAP standard, the agricultural sector will pay attention to guiding farmers to care lychees so that the plants can bear the most fruits with the best quality. In addition, it will maintain a stable area of lychee in the province at about 28,000 hectares.

Accompanying producers, the agriculture sector and the Department of Science and Technology will continue to research and apply advanced preservation technology serving fresh lychee exports to far, demanding and potential markets. including the EU.

Bac Giang currently has more than 100,000 hectares of planted forests, with total timber output reaching more than 600,000cu.m per year. The province's export of processed wood has increased sharply in recent years, with an estimated value of 2 trillion VND (86.4 million USD) this year.

Bac Giang has early paid attention to this issue and currently 2,171 hectares have received the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. Obtaining this condition, wood exports to the EU will be favorable, said Le Ba Thanh.

Issuing appropriate mechanisms and policies

In order to effectively implement the EVFTA in the agricultural sector, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will review and give advice to develop programmes, schemes, mechanisms and policies to support improvement of competitiveness for products, focusing on products of the province's strength.

In addition, the department has given advice to the building of a Resolution on support policies for linkages in production and consumption of agricultural products in Bac Giang province in the 2021-2025 period. This is the basis for attracting businesses to invest in chain-based production, step by step helping businesses participate in regional and global production networks and supply chains.

Along with the above solutions, the agriculture sector will cooperate with the Department of Industry and Trade to implement plans to export agricultural goods of the province for 2021-2025, promote the provision of information and forecasts about import and export markets and domestic markets, as well as information on investment and trade so that enterprises can grasp technical requirements and regulations on import and export management of EU countries in terms of agricultural products.

The EVFTA implementation requires production to go hand in hand with environmental protection, so the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will proactively prevent and control pollution sources that cause negative impacts on the environment; assess environmental impacts and environmental protection plans of investment projects in the agricultural field.