Agro-forestry-fishery export to EU down 16.6% in first half

The decline was attributed to the energy crisis in Europe and the "fever" of food prices leading to economic recession and food consumption reduction in many countries.

Vietnam shipped 32,000 tonnes of cashew nuts worth EUR186.2 million (US$205.14 million) to the EU in the first four months of this year, down 12.8% in volume and 20.1% in value compared to the same period last year, according to Eurostat - the statistical office of the EU.

The EU is a potential market for Vietnam's key agricultural products such as pepper, coffee, tea, and cashew nuts. Vietnam's agricultural sector and exporters once expected farm produce exports to the this market to increase, especially after the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effect in August 2020.

However, these expectations have not yet been met as non-tariff measures such as sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) or technical barriers to trade (TBT) remain challenges for Vietnamese agricultural products exported to the EU.

Recently, the European Parliament has adopted the EU Deforestation-Free Products Regulation (EUDR), focusing on preventing the import of products that cause deforestation and forest degradation. The new law will be applied to coffee, cocoa, palm oil, meat and other derived products from countries around the world.

To take full use of the tariff advantages from the EVFTA and overcome the technical obstacles of the European market, it is necessary for the agricultural sector to change its production methods, adopting good agricultural practices towards sustainable and environmentally friendly production to meet strict requirements of target markets.