Hanoi (VNA) – A ceremony was held in Hanoi on October 22 toannounce the export of Vietnam’s first batch of dairy products to China under aprotocol signed between the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment and the General Administration of Customs of China on April 26, 2019.

This was a specially important event for the agricultural sector in general andthe dairy industry in particular in efforts to boost high-quality farm produceexports to potential markets, especially China.

TH Milk Joint Stock Company became the first Vietnamese firm to receiveapproval from the General Administration of Customs of China to export dairyproducts to China. Its sterilised and modified milk products havebeen granted transaction codes.

At the ceremony, TH Milk signed a contract to ship the first batch of dairyproducts to China with its Chinese partner, Wuxi Jinqiao International FoodCity. Under the contract, the two sides will cooperate in distributing milkproducts in all provinces and cities across China via wholesale, retail and supermarketchannels.

Addressing the function, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Devleopment NguyenXuan Cuong said the event opens up a big opportunity for Vietnam’s dairy cowbreeding and milk processing sectors to boost exports to not only China butalso many other potential markets such as Japan, Canada, Australia, the US andThailand.

China’s imports of Vietnamese dairy products will help raise Vietnam’s farmproduce export turnover and locals’ incomes as China is one of the largest milkimporters in the world, he said.

He said he wishes Vietnamese businesses and dairy cow breeders will increaseinvestment in developing cow herbs to ensure material milk supplies.

In the coming time, the ministry will continue proposing the GeneralAdministration of Customs of China consider milk export applications from fourother Vietnamese enterprises.

Earlier last week, the Chinese customs agency announced granting officialpermission to the import of Vietnamese dairy products and detailingrequirements for quarantine and quality checks of those products.

Nguyen Van Long, deputy director of theDepartment of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, said that five Vietnamese firms have submitted dossiers to getpermission to export milk to China. Currently, Vietnam has 18 companiesregistered to sell dairy products to 17 foreign markets.

Vietnam aims to increase dairy exportrevenue to the neighbour from 120 million USD to 300 million USD in 2020./.