Identifying Technical Barriers In Exporting Agricultural Products To Europe

Europe has long been a potential market for Vietnamese goods in general and agricultural products in particular. However, entering the European market is not easy. High-quality requirements with strict regulations on packaging, labeling ... have formed technical barriers for many Vietnamese exporters. In order to support customers in effectively exploiting the European market, especially when the EVFTA agreement has come into effect, Vinacontrol had cooperated with the Association of Food Transparency (AFT) to organize a webinar "Identifying the technical barriers in exporting agricultural products to Europe” last weekend. The event had attracted more than 50 businesses and producers across the country.

Within the agenda of the webinar, Mr. Le Van Hau - Head of Service Development Department of Vinacontrol Ho Chi Minh City - had shared consumer trends of the European market as well as information on regulations and technical standards for goods exported to this market.

Specifically, Europeans have a high standard of living, so they are very interested in healthy products, organic food; products with production processes that meet environmental protection standards, sustainable products, using recycled and environmentally friendly materials and packaging; Smart products, simple, convenient, can be used many times. Besides, the impact of the pandemic in the last 2 years has made online consumption trends explode globally and Europe is no exception. E-commerce, especially cross-border e-commerce, is a growing opportunity in Europe, opening the prospect of a potential trade channel soon.

For agricultural products, technical barriers when exporting to Europe are often related to pesticide residues, heavy metals, genetic modification, farming conditions, environment, packaging, labeling. When exporting agricultural products to host countries, these countries require the competent authority of the exporting country to certify, make a list of registered establishments that are allowed to export, or present quality management program documents of the exporting countries, monitoring program of the exporting country. Some products must be disinfected, irradiated... In addition, Europe also has a periodic schedule to directly inspect the goods of export enterprises.

And especially in his presentation, the representative of Vinacontrol also detailed the regulations related to organic products in Europe, especially the new EU production and import regulations applied since January 1, 2022.

The webinar also proposed a number of oriented solutions to help businesses effectively utilize the EVFTA agreement to promote exports to Europe in the new context.

Customers wishing to know about barriers when exporting products to Europe, especially agricultural products, can contact Vinacontrol for specific advice.