Vietnam faces higher compliance costs to defend agricultural market share in ASEAN
Vietnamese rice, fruit, vegetable and seafood exports to ASEAN recorded substantial sales in the first seven months of 2026. Tighter import standards and growing regional competition are increasing the need for traceability, certification and investment in higher-value products.
Rice exports approach three-quarters of 2025 volume
Vietnamese agricultural exporters are seeking to preserve their position in ASEAN as importing countries strengthen requirements covering quality, traceability, certification and sanitary controls. The region offers short transport routes and preferential tariffs, but it is also becoming a more competitive market for agricultural, forestry and seafood suppliers.
Vietnam exported about 3 million tonnes of rice to ASEAN during the first seven months of 2026, according to the Information and Service Center for Agriculture and Environment under Vietnam’s Institute of Strategy and Policy on Agriculture and Environment. The shipments were worth $1.4 billion. That represented 75.3% of the volume and 68.7% of the value recorded for the whole of 2025.
The difference between those percentages indicates that shipment volume progressed faster than export value relative to last year’s totals. At the same time, Vietnam faces competition from Thailand and an expanding Cambodian industry. Cambodia exported approximately 707,000 tonnes of rice worth $415.12 million during the seven-month period, up 68% in volume and 34.3% in value from a year earlier. ASEAN accounted for about 266,300 tonnes valued at $102.84 million.
Fruit, vegetables and seafood expand their regional presence
Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports to ASEAN reached $249.8 million in the first seven months, equivalent to 68.8% of their full-year 2025 value. Seafood shipments were worth $439.6 million, or 61.1% of the previous year’s total. Malaysia and Thailand are among Vietnam’s ten largest fruit and vegetable export markets, according to Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association.
Vietnamese vegetable shipments to Malaysia increased 45% year on year during the period. In Thailand, Vietnamese dragon fruit maintained a strong position in supermarket chains including Big C and Central Food Hall, supported by year-round availability, its appearance and competitive pricing. Thai companies are also buying more frozen vegetable ingredients, dried fruit, juice concentrates and semi-processed agricultural products from Vietnam for export-oriented food manufacturing and the restaurant and hotel sector.
Processed and canned produce and dried nuts benefit from the 0% tariff available under the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement, or ATIGA. Short road and sea routes provide an additional cost advantage. These factors are helping Vietnamese suppliers compete more directly with domestic Thai brands, although retaining shelf space will increasingly depend on consistent specifications, documentation and delivery.
Indonesia and the Philippines raise the compliance stakes
In the Philippines, Vietnam has been advised to move more rice sales into medium- and premium-grade segments, including fragrant, organic and other high-quality varieties. Le Phu Cuong, trade counsellor at Vietnam’s trade office in the Philippines, also called for stronger monitoring of changes to tariffs, technical barriers and quarantine permits. The Philippines is diversifying rice supply through countries including Cambodia and Myanmar, increasing the risk of dependence on the mass-market segment.
Vietnamese suppliers are also being encouraged to expand beyond Metro Manila into Cebu in the Visayas and Davao in Mindanao. Nhan Dan reported that these regional economic centres have considerable demand for rice and frozen seafood but remain insufficiently developed as markets for Vietnamese exporters. Building sales there would require closer connections with importers and distributors as well as suitable logistics.
Indonesia is tightening the practical application of product and certification rules, particularly Halal requirements. Decision No. 4/2026, issued by Indonesia’s Halal authority, strengthens checks of documents and physical products in the country of loading and/or origin before shipment. Exporters therefore need compliant raw-material zones, documented production processes, traceability systems, certification files and logistics arrangements before goods leave Vietnam.
Vu Ba Phu, head of Vietnam’s Trade Promotion Agency, said ASEAN is both an important market and a network of trade, investment, supply and production partners. For exporters, maintaining market share will depend on using regional trade preferences while investing across the supply chain—from farms and processing facilities to certification and retail distribution. Those costs are becoming a condition of market access rather than an optional premium strategy.
