Recently, at the sorting and packaging workshop of Shizong Zhongrun Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. in Yunnan Province, 23.5 tons of golden, plump highland ginseng fruit completed grading, boxing, and pre-cooling. After passing export quarantine inspection by Qujing Customs under Kunming Customs, the shipment officially departed for Malaysia.
This marks the first export of ginseng fruit from Shizong to an overseas market, signifying a new breakthrough for local specialty agricultural products going global. Leveraging its ecological advantages of high altitude, low latitude, abundant sunlight, and significant temperature differences between day and night, Shizong County has grown into a key production area for high-quality ginseng fruit in the province. However, during on-site assessments for export orchard registration, customs officers discovered that some planting bases were unfamiliar with ASEAN countries' quarantine access requirements, which had previously hindered the international expansion of these premium products.
To address these business challenges, Qujing Customs implemented a targeted "one-enterprise, one-policy" assistance plan, focusing on export orchard registration, compliant agricultural input management, and full-chain quality and safety control. In agricultural materials management, customs strictly followed export orchard supervision standards, guiding bases to standardize the segregated storage of inputs, improve records for input requisition, storage, and traceability, reduce risks of mixing, and strengthen the foundation of farm production management. In integrated pest management, customs guided bases to establish routine pest inspection, monitoring, and control mechanisms, promoted green prevention and control technical standards, and followed the entire process of orchard planting management, quality control, and qualification application. This helped bases successfully obtain export orchard registration qualifications, ensuring that products are not only well-grown but also smoothly exported.
"Customs officers came to our doorstep to explain ASEAN's import access standards and policies, helping us improve our base management and making our local premium ginseng fruit more competitive internationally," said Ruan Jianxiang, head of Shizong Zhongrun Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., as he watched the first batch of ginseng fruit being loaded for shipment. "The successful first export has given us great confidence. We will continue to deepen our presence in the ASEAN market and bring more highland premium products to overseas dining tables."
The successful export of a single ginseng fruit has opened a new channel for enhancing the quality and efficiency of plateau specialty agriculture and increasing farmers' income, serving as a vivid example of customs' precise empowerment in supporting agriculture and trade. Zhou Minghua, Director of Qujing Customs, stated that the customs office will continue to improve the long-term assistance mechanism for specialty agricultural product exports, paving a broader path for highland premium products to reach global markets.
Data shows that in the first seven months of this year, Qujing Customs supervised the export of 16,000 tons of agricultural products worth 210 million yuan under its jurisdiction, representing year-on-year growth of 73% and 57%, respectively.