CAN THO – Trung An Hi-tech Farming JSC, a local rice exporter, saw the selling price of its rice shipped to the European Union (EU) rise by US$80-200 per ton after the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effect from August 1 this year.
Pham Thai Binh, director of Trung An, told the Saigon Times that the firm had signed contracts with three rice buyers in Germany, with a total volume of 3,000 tons. Its first consignment to be shipped to buyers will include 150 tons of rice in six containers.
In addition, Jasmine and ST20 rice are the two varieties of fragrant rice that Trung An was set to export. Of this, ST20 rice was earmarked for over US$1,000, while the selling price of Jasmine exceeded US$600 per ton.
Binh added that Trung An has well exploited the EU market for years. However, this is the first batch of rice to be shipped to the EU and enjoy zero tariff after the pact came into effect.
Before EVFTA, the export price of Jasmine rice was around US$520 per ton and that of ST20 rice was approximately US$800 per ton.
Aside from the positive effects of the tax incentive, trading in the rice market this year remains more active, raising the rice export prices, the head of Trung An explained.
To be eligible to enter the EU market, exported rice must have clear, full information regarding origin traceability and meet GlobalGAP standards or equivalent requirements. Besides, exporters must ensure the rice is of high quality and contains no pesticide residues, he said.
EVFTA coming into force has been advantageous to many Vietnamese farm produce and aquatic products, including rice. The European Commission has set an annual import quota of 80,000 tons for rice, with zero tariff.
By Trung Chanh
