Vietnamese fresh lychees and longan will be sold in the US fromOctober 6, on the condition that the products meet the country’s strictfood safety and hygiene standards.

Under an amendedregulation of the Animal and Plants Health Inspection Service (APHIS),an agency of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), all Vietnameseagricultural products entering the US market must originate from acultivation area that is registered with and monitored by Vietnam’sPlant Protection Department (PPD). Furthermore, each shipment ofproducts must include a certificate issued by the PPD.

Most importantly, the fruits must be in strict compliance with US regulations on pesticides.

The PPD, which is under the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (MARD), is working to provide lychee and longan farmers withthe appropriate cultivation, harvesting and preservation techniques tomeet the requirements of international markets, such as the US.

TheDepartment has teamed up with APHIS in Vietnam to devise a list ofregional codes for lychee and longan in the north and south of Vietnambefore the products are officially exported to the US.

Vietnam aims to ship approximately 600 tonnes of lychee and 1,200 tonnes of longan to the US per year, according to MARD.

Lychees and longan are Vietnam’s key fruit exports, along with dragonfruit, bananas, mangos, star fruit, rambutan and grapefruit.

Vietnam expects to generate 1.2 billion USD in revenue from fruit and vegetable exports in 2014.-VNA