Japan to become a new market for Vietnamese litchi

The Plant Protection Department announced that Japan has officially opened its doors to Vietnamese litchi.

On December 17, the Plant Protection Department said that they had received a letter from Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. This is the result of five years of negotiations and various experiments to ensure that the litchi will meet Japanese standards.

With Japan, Vietnamese litchi will be exported to China, Australia, the US and the EU.

Vietnam has successfully exported dragon fruit and mango to Japan with increasing volume every year.

Besides the permit, Japan authorities also sent phytosanitary regulations to Vietnam for Vietnamese litchi. The regulations have taken effect since December 15.

The litchi must be from gardens that are monitored and regularly inspected by the Plant Protection Department. The gardens must be listed and meet Japanese food and hygiene standards. The litchi must be packaged in accordance with the regulations and under the surveillance of plant protection officials from Vietnam and Japan. Each export cargo must include its phytosanitary certificate.

The Plant Protection Department said it would continue working with firms and other agencies to complete the procedures and find customers in order to export the first batch of litchi to Japan in 2020.