HÀ NỘI — As global markets tighten food safety requirements, pesticide residues have become a decisive passport for agricultural exports rather than a secondary criterion.

With increasingly stringent standards in the EU, China, Japan and other key markets, many cooperatives, despite having sufficient output, are struggling to secure contracts with businesses.

According to the Vietnam Sanitary and Phytosanitary Notification Authority and Enquiry Point (SPS Vietnam), major markets issued numerous notifications concerning Vietnamese agricultural exports last year alone.

The EU accounted for 108 notifications, Japan 50, the United States 40, China 36 and ASEAN countries 35, among others.

These figures highlight that pesticide residues and heavy metals are key factors affecting export performance. Products that fail to meet these requirements are effectively deemed substandard.

As a company specialising in procurement and export of agricultural products, particularly local specialties, Nguyễn Thái Thanh Hiền of OCOP Global JSC noted that to achieve smooth exports and establish long-term supply contracts between cooperatives and enterprises, products must meet strict standards on antibiotic and pesticide residues.

In the EU market, a hazard-based approach has recently been adopted. Active substances such as Mancozeb and Glyphosate are now subject to near-zero residue limits of 0.01 mg/kg. This has made it difficult for products such as durian and chilli from cooperatives to access the market.

Failure to meet standards on heavy metals or antibiotic residues not only prevents shipments from being exported but could also result in the withdrawal of growing area codes and suspension of packing facility codes, Hiền emphasised.

Experts note that in agricultural exports, especially fresh fruit and vegetables, time is not on the seller’s side. During transportation, products continue to ripen, wilt or spoil.

Nguyễn Ngọc Thạch, CEO of Smart Link Logistics, said China had tightened inspections on heavy metal residues in the past two years, particularly cadmium, on a shipment-by-shipment basis.

Documentation must match actual inspection results as paperwork alone is no longer sufficient for customs clearance, according to Thạch.

As a result, if production processes are not strictly followed or if discrepancies arise in growing area codes and test results, shipments may be delayed or even rejected.

A race for exporters

Residue issues are no longer just technical standards but have become barriers directly affecting brand reputation and the ability of farmers, cooperatives and enterprises to scale up operations.

To meet these requirements, producers must comply with a wide range of strict criteria. Moving away from experience-based farming, Đoàn Tuấn Anh, CEO of Wao Foods, said that products such as pomelo must pass rigorous testing against 1,150 pesticide criteria and two heavy metal indicators.

Achieving this would require years of chemical-free cultivation and significant investment in testing.

Lê Hữu Quang, deputy director in charge of the Farmer Training Centre at the Institute for Public Policy and Rural Development, said international integration demanded strict compliance with standards on traceability, pesticide residues and heavy metals. Without sustainable production and quality control, products would risk being excluded from global value chains.

Conversely, meeting high standards would allow farmers and cooperatives to enhance product value, access demanding markets and secure better prices.

Trade agreements today and global technical barriers impose increasingly stringent requirements. Only by complying with production processes and regulations can agricultural products enter international markets. Even minor violations can result in entire shipments being rejected, causing significant losses.

To both produce and export successfully, a tightly linked value chain involving farmers, cooperatives, businesses and regulators is essential to ensure consistent quality and sustainable development. — VNS