Late ripening longan of Hà Nội, which is an old kind of longan used to serve the Kings in the past, have been exported to Australia. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI The first batch of Vietnamese longan has been shipped to Australia and will be on supermarket shelves in Melbourne on September 9, according to an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Director of the MARD’s Agricultural Products Processing and Development of Department Nguyễn Quốc Toản was speaking  at a conference on promoting consumption and exports of Hà Nội longan in the capital city’s Hoài Đức District.

Toản said fresh Vietnamese longan has entered dozens of countries around the world, including many picky markets such as the US and EU.

“Longan is also the fourth fruit of Việt Nam to be licensed for import by Australia after lychee, mango and dragon fruit,” Toản said.

He said the longan growing area in Hoài Đức District was part of the National Target Programme on New-Style Rural Area Building.

“The import markets have new requirements and it’s necessary to pay attention to traceability, quality control and added value of products through processing and packaging,” Toản added.

Anna Le, Director of Green Path Australia Company, a branch of Green Path Vietnam Trading and Import Export Company which exports longan to Australia, said the shipment is late ripening longan of Hà Nội, an old kind of longan used to serve kings in the past. The fruit has a rich sweet taste but is cool and thick.

“The company wants to give Australian consumers the most natural product so it does not use any chemicals to preserve the longan,” Anna said.

To export longan to Australia, MARD spent a lot of time negotiating with Australian partners and completing procedures such as clear traceability, and production, quarantine and export must meet conditions for importing fresh fruit into the country. — VNS