The Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources have prepared a draft report assessing Vietnam’s market access request to export fresh dragon fruit to Australia.
More than 491 tonnes of Vietnamese drangon fruits were exported to the US, Japan and South Korea last April.
According to a press release published by the Australian Embassy in Vietnam on September 13, the report proposed that the import of fresh dragon fruit to Australia be permitted from all commercial production areas of Vietnam, subject to a range of biosecurity conditions.
The report has been prepared following a review of scientific knowledge of pests and diseases of concern, technical discussions with the Plant Protection Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and an inspection of dragon fruit production areas in Vietnam by Australian government officials in June.
The report has been released for a 60 day comment period, which closes on November 14. Following this, stakeholder comments will be considered and a final report will be prepared. It is expected that the risk analysis will be completed by the end of 2016.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasised how keen he was to see Vietnamese products exported to Australia when speaking to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Vientiane last week.