A workshop to seek measures to boost agriculural exports from the Mekong Delta region to the US was held in Can Tho city on November 5. 

 

The event offered a chance for firms to share experience in exporting to the market and how best to work with American importers. 

 

Nguyen Vu Minh Tam, Director of GOL Co., Ltd stressed the need for Vietnamese exporters to promote e-commerce, saying it would help them reduce costs, increase profits, cut transaction time and access the maximum number of potential customers.

 

Attention should be given to promoting export of products with their own brand, instead of raw materials, she added. 

 

There are several Vietnamese brands expanding exports to the US, such as Trung Nguyen Group Joint Stock Company, Cau Tre Food JSC, she noted.

 

Participants said exporters should avoid items that are hard to export to the US such as children's toys, pharmaceuticals, fabrics and garments, alcohol and processed foods.

 

For agricultural products, attention should be paid to exploring market demand and US laws before export. 

 

Apart from mandatory regulations on the certificate of origin from the farm of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), exporters also need to show import permits as required by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and fulfill the requirements of each state and buyer. 

 

Simon Ky Tran, Director of Bfarmusa, noted that Vietnamese businesses should pay heed to ensuring the quality of their goods, and tackle issues related to payment methods when they export products to the US. 

 

Statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development show that in the first nine months of this year, Vietnam’s exports of agro-forestry-fishery products reached 29.6 billion USD.  The US was one of the five largest importers of Vietnamese agricultural products in the period.-VNA