More dairy factories to export to China

According to the Department of Animal Health, since the Protocol on exporting milk from Vietnam to China was signed between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China in April 2019, by the end of 2020, five factories from four Vietnamese dairy companies have been licienced by General Department of China Customs to export to Chinese market dairy products including pasteurized milk, yogurt, condensed milk, and cheese.

Those include TH True Milk factory, Thong Nhat dairy factory and Vinamilk's Saigon dairy factory; Hanoimilk dairy factory and Bel Vietnam’s factory. The Department of Animal Health has been focusing on guiding and supporting 11 more Vietnamese dairy factories to submit dossiers to the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China for approval (including 07 factories of Vinamilk, 01 factory of Moc Chau Milk, 01 factory of Nutifood and 02 factories of Dutch Lady).

By the end of 2020, the Department of Animal Health had advised the leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to have a note to the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China to request additional licensing for a number of qualified Vietnam’s dairy factories.

At the online meeting between Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong and Director General of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (December 8, 2020), the Chinese side promised to approve some more qualified dairy factories of Vietnam.

According to the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), Chinese side has also agreed to issue an additional export code for one Vinamilk factory (bringing the total number of Vinamilk's factories exporting to China to three), and one factory of Nutifood.

Thus, so far, a total of 7 dairy factories in Vietnam have been allowed to export dairy products to the Chinese market.

In order to promote the exploitation and development of Vietnam's dairy products in the Chinese market, in 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also directed the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development to coordinate with the Vietnam Trade Office in China to submit a plan to organize the event of "Vietnam Milk Day in China" and an event to promote Vietnamese dairy products at an important Chinese food fair.

However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, these activities were temporarily postponed. In the coming time, when the of Covid-19 is controlled, the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Development will continue to propose the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to prioritize the organization of trade promotion activities for Vietnamese dairy products in the Chinese market.