The Plant Protection Department ( Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ) has just said that it has received a notice from the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) about the draft "Report on import requirements for Vietnamese fresh passion fruit exported to Australia" and sent it to the Vietnamese side for comments.

Vietnamese passion fruit has the opportunity to export to the Australian market

The introduction of the report outlines Australia's ecological protection policy and the purpose of the pest risk analysis for fresh passion fruit imported from Vietnam to protect Australia's agriculture.

Accordingly, fresh passion fruit harvested from growing areas in Vietnam may be allowed to be imported into the Australian market, but must comply with biosecurity requirements. The report identified 11 pests that pose a biosecurity risk, including fruit flies, aphids, spiders and thrips.

In order to reduce these risks, the draft report proposes a number of risk management measures such as: Establishing pest free areas, pest free production areas or pest free production facilities. The application of irradiation treatment is considered to be effective in the management of fruit fly species.

DAFF will synthesize comments and further consult with stakeholders. After the review, the DAFF will post the final report on the DAFF website and conclude the pest risk analysis.

The requirements to ensure biosecurity stated in the report will be the basis for developing import conditions and publishing on the BICON system. Before import conditions are published on the BICON system, the Vietnamese side needs to demonstrate its ability to apply risk management measures to ensure safe trade in passion fruit exports from Vietnam.

Currently, the Plant Protection Department has sent a document to the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development of the provinces/cities, research units, organizations and individuals producing and exporting passion fruit (passionate passion fruit) and plant quarantine units about asking for comments on reporting import requirements for Vietnamese passion fruit exported to this market .

Accordingly, the Plant Protection Department requested units to comment on the above draft report before sending it back to Australia.

The Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development of the provinces/cities direct specialized units to actively review and synthesize fresh passion fruit growing areas and establishments that meet the requirements and have demand for export to Australia in the near future to be ready to supply when required by the importing country.

Associations, organizations and individuals actively prepare the technical conditions for the growing area at the request of Australia to be ready to export to the Australian market when it has been successfully opened.

In 2022, the national output of passion fruit is estimated at 135,000 tons, planted mainly in Gia Lai and Dak Lak. Currently passion fruit has been exported to markets such as the EU, China, ...