Vietnam longan was “blew the whistle” when exporting to Australia

Illustration image. Photo: Thanh Nguyễn

Vietnam Trade Office in Australia stated that on September 7, the first batch of Vietnamese longan imported into Australia was stopped clearance by the Australian Quarantine Service in Melbourne due to improper packaging.

After receiving the news, the Trade Office worked with the Ministry of Agriculture of Australia to ask for help. By the end of the afternoon of the same day, the Ministry of Agriculture of Australia sent directives to Melbourne for clearance. This is an exception because the Australian Quarantine Agency was extremely strict.

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Australia, the Trade Office has announced the conditions for importing longan on the Ministry of Industry and Trade's website and the Trade Office Website's website before the Ministries of Agriculture of two countries met and announced the opening gate for exporting longan in Hanoi. However, many businesses have not paid attention.

Directly related to the rescued batch of longan, the Ministry of Agriculture of Australia sent a letter to the Trade Office for the packaging conditions.

Specifically, the exported goods must meet at least one of the safe packaging methods to avoid insect entry. The first is a closed carton, packed in a tightly closed carton with no air vents. The second is a carton with vents. If the carton has vents, the holes must be covered with mesh and the size must not exceed 1.6 mm and the thickness of the mesh must not be less than 0.16 mm or the vents must be glued.

The purpose of those conditions is to avoid goods being contaminated or re-contaminated after irradiation.

To enhance the existing import conditions, the Ministry of Agriculture of Australia will send a written notice to Vietnamese authorities requesting information regarding the use of unit load device (ULD) and sealed sea containers.

If Vietnam can provide information proving the safety of goods after handling is maintained under the above conditions, the Ministry of Agriculture of Australia may announce additional methods of safe packaging.

Specifically, pallets can be wrapped with mesh or nylon or ULDs. The ULDs transported open-vented carton boxes or vented pallets must be covered or wrapped with polythene/plastic/metal foil or mesh with hole size not exceeding 1.6 mm.

Besides that, goods should be transported in closed containers - cartons (packing boxes) with holes are transported in closed containers. The container consists of six sides of hard material or ULDs with the sides are large waterproof tarpaulins with no holes or spaces. Containers must be shipped to the inspection points wth the same status quo.