In northern Bac Giang Province, the growers always pile up lychees for weighting  before transporting them to the market. — Photo Tran Viet

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Australia's Department of Agriculture has approved the importation of irradiated lychees, reported the Australian ABC network on May 12.

The department will inform Australian importers of the decision, said the news network.

The announcement comes just in time for Viet Nam's 2015 lychee harvest, which will begin in the next few weeks and continue until the middle of July.

The ABC network said it has been twelve years since Viet Nam first applied for permission, and Viet Nam can now export fresh lychees to Australia.

Consignments of Vietnamese lychees are permitted to be air or sea freighted to Australia and must be inspected upon arrival.

The Vietnamese Government is hoping this will be the first of many tropical fruit exports, including mangoes and dragon fruits.

Head of Australia's Lychee Growers Association, Derek Foley, based in Electra, Queensland, told ABC news that he was not worried about Vietnamese imports competing with local fruit.

"We're not against the import of lychees, it won't clash with our season, which is Christmas (time)," Foley said.

Foley noted that the public's confidence in lychees was harmed when China exported vapour heat treated lychees to Australia in 2005.

"Vapour heat treatment is not kind to lychees, and they came by boat.

"Unfortunately the whole trade collapsed because of the vapour heat treatment, and Australia is still trying to get access to China.

"We're asking if the protocol can be irradiation, and we are seeking reciprocal arrangements."

Australia's lychee industry is worth $20 million annually. The industry now exports irradiated fruit to New Zealand and has recently been granted access to the United States.

In Viet Nam, the two largest lychee-growing provinces of Bac Giang and Hai Duong are estimated to have a total harvested output of 200,000 tonnes of fresh lychees in the 2015 crop.

According to Viet Nam's Ministry of Industry and Trade, about 60 per cent of lychees (120,000 tonnes of fresh lychees) will be consumed domestically, while the remaining 80,000 tonnes (including 85 per cent of fresh fruits and 15 per cent of dried and frozen fruits) are designated for export.

The Ministry has set targets to export to Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, the US, Australia, Japan, Korea and Europe. — VNS