Launching another radiation plant serving fruit exports to the US

On October 10, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and the Toan Phat Irradiation Co., Ltd. launched the program on fresh fruit irradiation for exports to the United States. 

After careful assessment, USDA experts claimed that the first cargo of fresh fruits treated by Toan Phat Irradiation Co., Ltd. to the United States had fulfilled the quality criteria. The irradiation procedures were also implemented in a methodical and professional manner.

Toan Phat Irradiation Co., Ltd. is the second enterprise in Vietnam to be certified for the irradiation of Vietnamese fruit for exports to the United States, following Son Son Seafood Processing JSC (Ho Chi Minh City), which the United States has authorized since 2018.

The plant coming into operation would boost fruit export opportunities to the United States as the process of fruit exports and fruit preservation would be accelerated. The emergence of more irradiation plants would hasten fruit shipments to the United States, while preserving fruit quality and reducing prices, among other things, without reliance on a single irradiation plant as was previously the case.

According to Nguyen Dinh Tung, General Director of Vina T&T Group (one of the Vietnamese fruit exporters to the United States), there was a significant slowdown during harvest seasons since one radiation facility was unable to satisfy exporters' demand for radiation services. The opening of another plant would enhance the competitiveness of service providers and improve product quality, pricing, and preservation.

Another thing to add is that Toan Phat Irradiation Co., Ltd. currently has a capacity of 10,000 tons of fruit per year. This is considered a potential that will significantly increase the amount of Vietnamese fruit exported to the United States in the near future, thereby enhancing the presence and competitiveness of Vietnamese fruit in this key market.

Toan Phat Irradiation Co., Ltd. disclosed that it has invested USD 10 million in the construction of a radiation plant. The factory has been personally audited by APHIS specialists, who have determined that its technical procedure for irradiating fresh fruits for export to the United States meets all regulatory requirements.

The General Statistics Office of Vietnam reported that, in the first eight months of 2022, the export value of vegetables and fruits reached USD 2.2 billion, a 12.8% decrease from the same time in 2021.

In the first eight months of 2022, the principal export of vegetables and fruits to the Chinese market, which accounted for 44.1% of the total export value, amounted to USD 967.5 million, a decrease of 32.4% from the same period in 2021. Even though China's demand for fruits and vegetables has expanded significantly, the country has still adopted the "Zero Covid" approach, which entails rigorous embargo orders and thorough testing. As a result, exporting Vietnamese fruits and vegetables to China will be extremely difficult.

Notably, while exports of vegetables and fruits to China declined in the first eight months of 2022, exports to the United States, Korea, Japan, and Thailand climbed substantially. As a result, it largely compensated for the drop in shipments to the Chinese market, so contributing to the slowdown of the fruit and vegetable industry's export loss.

In the first eight months of this year, the export value of vegetables and fruits to the United States reached 179 million USD, an increase of 19.1% over the same time last year and accounting for 8.2% of the overall export value of vegetables and fruits to all markets.

The Agency of Foreign Trade (Ministry of Industry and Trade) reported that the outlook for exporting fruits and vegetables to the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Thailand will remain optimistic in the final months of the year, when the holiday season and rising demand in almost all markets will be in effect.

Up to now, Vietnam has had six types of fresh fruit granted license to export to the US, including mango, lychee, star apple, longan, rambutan, and dragon fruit. But as these fruits are being grown at an increasing rate in states like Florida and California as well as in Mexico, Vietnamese fruits are met with strong competition in the US market.