Procedures for exporting agricultural products to international markets

Vietnam is a country with developed agriculture, promoting the export of agricultural products to the international market is a great goal to help improve the lives of farmers. Many Vietnamese agricultural products have been brought to the international market. So what are the steps involved in export agricultural products to foreign markets and what documents do you need to prepare? Let’s identify with Viet Linh about the process of exporting agricultural products in Vietnam.

Procedures for exporting agricultural products to international markets

Bringing a domestic product internationally is not straightforward. It requires farmers to comply with many food safety regulations and conditions with the details below:

General conditions on food safety

If you want to export agricultural products internationally, you must fully comply with the following regulations:

• Comply with regulations on limits of pathogenic microorganisms, pesticide/veterinary drug residues, heavy metals, pollutants, and other substances that can harm human health and life .
• Regulations on food additives and processing aids in production.
• Regulations on packaging and product labels.
• Regulations on food preservation.
• Ensuring traceability of food origin.
• Veterinary hygiene certificate from a competent veterinary agency for fresh food originating from animals.

A line of agricultural products will have specific regulations for each item and will change depending on the year and each importing country. If you need specific advice, please contact hotline 0345.128.188 for the best support.

Conditions for businesses and production facilities:

For businesses and agricultural product purchasing establishments, they also need to fully meet the following conditions, including:

• Have a suitable location, area, safe distance from sources of harm, pollution and other harmful factors.
• There is enough water that meets technical standards to serve food production and business.
• Fully equipped, suitable for handling raw materials, processing, packaging, preserving and transporting products. There are enough washing and disinfecting tools, antiseptic water, and insect and pest prevention equipment.
• There is a waste treatment system and is operated in accordance with the law on environmental protection.
• Maintain records on the source and origin of raw materials and the entire food production and trading process.
• Comply with health regulations, knowledge and practices with people directly producing and trading food.
• Ensuring safety for tools, materials, packaging, preservation and transportation of food.

Some specific regulations for each typical Vietnamese agricultural product

To help customers better understand the process of exporting Vietnamese agricultural products. Below are some separate processes for each Vietnamese agricultural product, including:

For fruits

The most exported Vietnamese fruits include: dragon fruit, rambutan, longan, coconut, jackfruit, mango, etc. For fruit products, it is necessary to ensure that no preservatives are used, including preservatives. biological management. During the harvesting, sorting, and processing process, it is necessary to take place quickly to meet standards to avoid damaged fruit. Then refrigerate and export to foreign countries.

For rice

Rice export enterprises need to have at least 1 specialized warehouse for at least 5,000 tons of rice, with facilities that meet the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. At the same time, there is at least 1 rice milling facility with a minimum capacity of 10 tons of rice/hour.

For coffee

For coffee products, when exporting, a quarantine certificate is required. It is best for businesses to contact their import partners to ask about quarantine requirements to prepare in advance. There is also a certificate of origin (C/O) according to ICO form.

For dry tea (tea)

Partners importing dried tea may require licenses such as certificate of origin, fumigation certificate, plant quarantine certificate, health certificate, quality certificate. Enterprises need to confirm with the importing country to prepare complete documents before exporting.

For fruits and vegetables

Vegetables and fruits are not banned from export, so they only need to meet the following requirements: product testing, product quality declaration, certificate of free circulation and health certificate.

For pepper

Pepper is a main export spice of Vietnam. Exporting dried pepper does not require an export license, does not need to pay export tax and VAT. Enterprises need to check whether the pepper fully meets the criteria of the importing country or not. Some criteria that need to be checked are plant quarantine, irradiation, standard growing areas, pesticide content, label packaging, traceability, etc.

Procedures for exporting Vietnamese agricultural products

In order for Vietnamese agricultural products to be cleared through customs smoothly, businesses must carry out the agricultural export process in 6 steps:

Step 1: Clearly identify the requirements of the import market

The first step to take is to clearly understand the import regulations of the market you are targeting. Businesses need to know clearly what requirements they must fulfill and whether they can meet them or not.

Step 2: Check agricultural products and quarantine procedures

Depending on the market, there will be different requirements and indicators. Most agricultural products need to meet the following requirements.

Agricultural products must be grown and harvested from areas with clean raw materials, Vietgap or GlobalGap certified.

Carry out fumigation, irradiation, plant quarantine, and make C/O in the prescribed order.

Ensures standards of quality, content and no pesticide or plant protection drug residues inside.

Appropriate packaging specifications, using cartons and sturdy packaging when packing, to limit damage.

Step 3: Prepare documents for agricultural export procedures

For agricultural products in general, businesses are required to fully prepare the following documents, including:

• Sales contract (SALE CONTRACT);
• Commercial invoice (COMMERCIAL INVOICE);
• Red invoice (INVOICE);
• Packing list of goods (PACKING LIST);
• Booking with shipping/airline companies (BOOKING);
• Original Bill (ORIGINAL BILL OF LADING – BL);
• Certificate of Origin (CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN);
• Quality Certificate (CERTIFICATE OF QUALITY / QUALITY);
• Certificate of Origin (PHYTOSANITARY);
• Certificate of fumigation (FUMIGATION);
• Certificate of free sale (CERTIFICATE OF FREE SALES – CFS);
• Health certificate for food (HEALTH CERTIFICATE – HC);
• QUALITY AND QUANTITY CERTIFICATION;
• Radiation certificate (RADIATION CERTIFICATION).

Note: Sales contract documents, commercial invoices, packing slips, bookings and original bills are basic sets of documents, required when exporting agricultural products. The remaining documents may arise based on Incoterm conditions or according to the regulations of the importing country.

Step 4: Prepare for delivery

After completing step 3, you have prepared all export documents. Step forward, businesses need to contact the shipping team to pack goods and prepare customs declaration procedures.

Step 5: Customs declaration

Customs procedures for exporting agricultural products are based on data provided when packaging goods. After that, the business declares electronically, opens the declaration, clears the goods and liquidates them, and finally enters the ship’s book.

Step 6: Carry out customs clearance of agricultural products

In parallel with the customs clearance process for goods, businesses must attach bill details and submit VGM 2 days in advance to the shipping company that made the reservation. The purpose is to give the shipping company time to draft the invoice and send it back to you for review.

Noteworthy points to note when exporting agricultural products

Having a clear understanding of the agricultural export process has made it easier for businesses to export goods to international markets. Below are some notes to help make customs clearance of goods easier, faster and more accurate.

• There are two main forms of exported agricultural products: dry preservation and cool preservation.
• For dry storage, businesses should adjust air humidity appropriately, using ventilation equipment, to prevent agricultural products from being attacked by insects and pathogens. Specifically, if storing nuts, the air humidity should be reduced to 84 – 87% compared to the original; When preserving fruit, the moisture content may be higher.
• For fresh and cold preserved agricultural products, harvesting, packaging and transportation must take place in the correct order, ensuring synchronization, for the best quality of goods. In addition, depending on the agricultural product, the temperature in the plane and container must be adjusted appropriately, for example, for vegetables and fruits, the temperature must be from 2 – 12 degrees Celsius, to help agricultural products lush, limiting damage.

The above is the most fundamental agricultural export process that businesses need to understand. These procedures and regulations will be updated and modified from year to year, which can be a huge challenge for firms that do not specialize in export. Conversely, when businesses cooperate with Viet Linh, they will not need to worry about the above documents and procedures because Viet Linh has:

• Been considered as an enterprise with comprehensive experience in exporting agricultural products to international markets such as the US, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, India…
• Been receiving a variety of requests to export Vietnamese agricultural products to foreign markets from dried spices, tea, coffee, rice, wooden products or frozen goods…
• Viet Linh has warehouses and yards to gather agricultural products and preserve them at separate temperatures, flexible for each item, to meet the quality of goods when arriving at the port.
• A team of staff with many years of experience in the field of exporting goods will provide the best advice for each Vietnamese agricultural product, ensure the shortest delivery time and save costs.
• Been offering appropriate, cost-effective cargo insurance consulting packages to meet the needs of each client.

Customers need advice on the process of exporting Vietnamese agricultural products or expect to import Vietnamese agricultural products. Let Viet Linh support you 24/24 at hotline: 0345.128.188.