Mangoes, longans, lychees, dragon fruit, rambutans, star apples, and pomelos are the seven different kinds of Vietnamese fruit which have been granted the green light to enter the US market so far.

After negotiations lasting over five years, the US Department of Agriculture has officially licensed the import of fresh pomelo from Vietnam.

At present the US has great demand for fruits, consuming up to 12 million tonnes each year, with 30% imported from overseas.

Pomelo is the seventh fresh Vietnamese fruit licensed to enter the US market, following mangoes, longans, lychees, dragon fruit, rambutans, and star apples. Vietnam boasts a total area of 105,400ha under pomelo cultivation, yielding an output of roughly 950,000 tonnes each year.

All Vietnamese fruits entering this market must obtain both VietGAP and GlobalGAP certifications.

Dragon fruit became the first Vietnamese fruit exported to the US in 2008.

This was followed by rambutans that received permission to enter the US market in 2011.

Three years later the US Department of Agriculture officially licensed the import of longans and lychees from Vietnam.

The fifth local fruit to get the green light to penetrate the US market was star apples, with the first batch arriving in the US in December 2017.

In 2019 mangoes officially became the sixth Vietnamese fruit making inroads into the US.

According to US regulations, fruit exports must meet strict US standards relating to fruit cultivation areas and fruit packing facilities. Along with these rules, products must also be irradiated at a stipulated factory under the supervision of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the US Department of Agriculture.