Food quality managers in Vietnam has asked Chinese agencies to investigate about 300 tonnes of fruits imported to Vietnam that turned out to have been contaminated.

Chinese apples (illustrated photo)

The National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department, or NAFIQAD, has sent documents to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine of China. NAFIQAD requested that the Chinese agency investigate the origins of the cargo in question and send its results back to the proper Vietnamese agencies. They also asked that the country take some measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.  and send the results to Vietnam. 

According to NAFIQUAD, border inspections have discovered 17 cases contaminated food cargo coming from China. These imports are agricultural products, such as lemons, apples, oranges and persimmon, while other suspicious cargo consisted of tens of tonnes of vegetables. Chemical residues on the fruits and vegetable was proved to exceed Vietnam's standards.

Due to the tensions on the East Sea, the Vietnamese government has been urged to be less economically dependent on China. However, because of the cheap prices of Chinese agricultural products and inventories waiting at the border, Vietnamese traders have thus far continued to import large quantities of goods from China. If relations between the two nations does not improve, the lives of farmers in Vietnam could be affected, since China is Vietnam's biggest export market. Import companies, especially those that deal in component parts may be negatively affected. 

There remains much worry in the Vietnamese business community because the loss of the price advantage of Chinese imports could have wide-ranging consequences. Some experts have suggested that increasing anti-smuggling efforts is an appropriate step in order to protect domestically-produced goods. Many also agree that it would be wise for Vietnam to seek out new export markets.