Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 

Department of Agriculture

No. 0878/DOA

Vientiane Capital, 20 April 2023

 

- According to laws on plant protection and quarantine no. 13/NA, dated on 15 November 2016;

- According to the ministerial decision on the organization and activity of the department of agriculture, No. 0078/DOA, dated on 12 January 2022;

- According to the meeting minutes on the phytosanitary conditions for the export of maize from Lao PDR to China, dated on 10 January 2012;

 

In the past, the government has had a policy to promote the production of crops as commodities, resulting in an increase in the trade of agricultural products with the region and internationally. In that, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has signed together with the Customs Administration of China regarding the sanitary and phytosanitary conditions for the export of maize from the Lao PDR to China. Currently, it is seen that the maize growing area is expanding widely, which can generate income for the people and contribute to the socio-economic development of the nation. But the implementation is not yet in line with the conditions that the two governments have signed, such as the production system, monitoring system, pest management in plantations, treatment procedures, cleaning management, packaging house and record keeping.

 

Therefore, for the management of the production and export of corn from the Lao PDR to China to be systemized, unified, transparent and in accordance with the bilateral protocol on the sanitary and phytosanitary conditions for the export of corn from the Lao PDR to China as well as the laws, regulations and international plant protection conventions to which the Lao PDR and China are parties;

 

The Department of Agriculture Issues an Instruction:

I. Objectives 

- To conform with phytosanitary conditions for the export of maize from Lao PDR to China;

- To provide instructions on procedures and practices on the phytosanitary conditions for the export for unity nationwide. 

II. Phytosanitary conditions for the export of maize from Lao PDR to China 

1. maize to be exported 

maize to be exported from Lao PDR to China under the phytosanitary conditions must be the type of hard maize which has scientific name as Zea Mays L, common English name is Maize which is only seeds that have been dried or baked. If the corn variety brought to be planted to be exported to China is a genetically modified variety, there must be a license to certify safety, gene editing and other related documents from China first.

 

2. Quarantine pests  

Maize to be exported from Lao PDR to China must not contaminate soil and other variety of seeds and must not contaminate with quarantine pests regulated by China as following: 

 

No. Scientific names Common names Characteristics Supporting images 

1 Carpophilus

hemipterus Dried fruit

beetle This beetle has the outstanding character that is short wings, the lower wings are light yellow, the tip of the antenna has a round-shaped ball like attached, the baby beetle is light yellow with yellow bottom and head. They attack while seeds grow old and after harvest. 

 

2 Cryptolestes

ferrugineus Rusty grain beetle Old rusty grain beetles are brown. Young beetles are white pupae with long and slim bodies. Their heads and bottoms are brown for both puppies and beetles. There are pests in rice barns. They attack after harvest.   

3 Cryptolestes

pusilloides Round-shaped ball like antenna beetles The adult breaded beetles are brown with an outstanding character that is long antenna over half of their body length. Their antenna has 11 parts. Young beetles look like rusty beetles. Both adult and young beetles are enemies to rice barn attacking after harvest period.  

4 Cercospora sorghi Grey leaf spot of sorghum Grey leaf spot of sorghum in maize is stemmed from fungus Cercospora sorghi. This disease attacks leaves, trunk and seeds with abnormal colors, dead cells and fungus in suitable temperature and moisture during the sprouting period to harvest and infects maize seeds.  

5 Peronosclerospora sp. Downy mildew  Downy mildew is stemmed from peronosclerospora. This disease attacks and shows symptoms in leaves and seeds. The destroyed leaves are white with gray seeds. They attack during sprouting and harvest periods and also infect maize seeds.  

6 Cemchrus

Echinatus Southern

sandbur They are monocotyledon in grass type with approximate height of 50 cm and spiky thorny fruits with 2-3 seeds per fruit. They infect from plantation to harvest period and seeds attaching maize seeds  

7 chromolaena Siam weed They are herbaceous plants. Their trunk expands into bushy branches with approx. height of 1-2 meters. Their flowers are white or purple with approx. of 10-35 flowers. Their seeds have five angles with hard hair on top of seeds. They attack from plantation to harvest periods with seeds also can contaminate maize products  

3. Management of maize fields

Plantation of maize to be exported from Lao PDR to China must closely follow plant quarantine measures and have mixed management of the fields as following:

1). The management of quarantine pest fields must have a mixed management of quarantine pest or Integrated Pest Management (IPM) such as the use of Philamon's trap and yellow glue, cleaning and sanitizing of plantation, and the preservation of beneficial insects. In case of found pest, biological pesticide or other appropriate methods. 

2). Entrepreneurs must record in detail on the monitoring and pest management such as names of chemicals, season of use, active substances, dose of use, frequency of use and other relevant information, such record must be well archived and be ready for inspection by authority.

4. Packaging house 

Management of domestic packaging house must follow: 

1). Must have a drying area or clean baking house to ensure maize to be exported is not moldy, contaminated from soil and grass seeds.

2). Packaging materials must be clean, new and must conform with phytosanitary conditions specified by China.

3). Each packaging container must have labels with clear fonts at the top and on the side. The content of labels must be written in English/Chinese, which clearly tells importing country with clear information of the exporting company, name of seeds, codes of plantation, code of packaging house as well as packaging date.

4). After packaging is completed, it must be separated and stored in a lean place to prevent from pest and other contamination.

5. Registration 

Individuals, legal entities or organizations wishing to register or renew their registration of plantation, packaging house and cold baking house must abide by the regulations set out periodically by the ministry of agriculture and forestry by submitting the request letter to the department of agriculture in May every year. 

Request application includes:

1). A request letter provided by the department of agriculture.

2). A copy of a business license issued by the ministry of agriculture and forestry.

3). A copy of a certificate of the last annual duty payment.

4). A guideline on the Phyto and Phyto sanitation management.

5). A letter of attorney in case of having someone apply for it on their behalf. 

 

The certificate is valid for one year and can be renewed. Registered and approved exporters will be published in the website of customs administration of China which includes name, address and codes. 

 

6. Phytosanitary conditions prior to export 

Individuals, legal entities or organizations who are registered and approved as exporters by the customers administration of China must follow: 

1). must submit a request letter provided by the department of agriculture together with other attached documents to the department of agriculture or provincial agriculture sector. For the conditions, procedures and approaches to request for the phytosanitary certificate must abide by/follow the instruction of the department of agriculture No. 2880/DOA, dated 11 December 2019;

2). First year of sampling must collect and inspect the samples in 2/100 of each consignment, if a quarantine pest of China is not found, it must be reduced to 1/100 ratio in the second year. After the random inspection/sampling of the 1/100 and 2/100, it must sample three kilograms for pest test. 

3).  In case of found quarantine pests as specified in roman II. No. 2 of this instruction, export of such consignment is prohibited, a report must be immediately submitted to the department of agriculture, ministry of agriculture and forestry to stop the production location for seeking solutions. 

4). In case of the plant quarantine authorities find no contamination of quarantine pests, phytosanitary certificate for such consignment must be issued as ‘’the consignment is following requirements described in the protocol of the phytosanitary requirements for the exports of maize from Laos to China is free of soil and quarantine pests concerned by China’’. 

5). Pest quarantine authorities responsible for the phytosanitary certification of maize must specify information of the importing ports as periodically specified by the customs administration of China. 

7. Regulations at importing checkpoints. 

1). When the consignment of maize from Lao PDR arrives the importing ports of China, the owner of that consignment must declare documents to the plant quarantine officials of China to check the documents.

2). Transporting packages of products from production facilities such as plantations and packing houses that are not registered and certified by both parties is strictly prohibited for importation.

3). If the product package contaminates the soil, other types of seeds and inspects the pests defined in Roman II, Clause 2 of this guideline, the product package will be sent back, destroyed or effective quarantine and pest control measures are used and the cost is the responsibility of the operator. The Chinese authorities will inform the Lao side immediately about the pest species, plant sanitary certificate number and other related information as well as suspending the import of corn from the plantation and/or packing house. The operator must find the cause and take appropriate measures to prevent it from happening again.

III. Implementation 

1). The Department of Plant Quarantine, Provincial Cultivation Sector, Capital City be in charge of coordinating with other related sectors to publicize, monitor and inspect the implementation of this guideline to get good results.

2) The Department of Plant Quarantine coordinate with the agricultural sector of the province and the capital to inspect and assess the risk of pests in the production facilities during each production season to send a list of individuals, legal entities or organizations that have proposed to export maize that are implemented correctly in accordance with the sanitary conditions that the two sides have signed for China to consider once/year;

3) Let the agricultural sector of the province and the capital city coordinate with the Department of Agriculture to encourage companies to implement the prevention and elimination of pests in maize fields, to monitor and monitor pests in plantations, packing houses and measures to reduce the risk of infection by quarantine pests of China as defined in Chapter II Clause 2 of this guideline as well as to report to the Department of Agriculture from time to time;

4). The agricultural sector of the province and the capital be responsible for promoting, monitoring and inspecting the use of production factors (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and production tools) as well as reporting to the Department of Agriculture from time to time.

5). The Department of Plant Quarantine be the center to coordinate with the agricultural sector of the province, the capital and its vertical lines to summarize the report on the export of corn from Lao PDR to China to the Department of Agriculture periodically.

6). The plant quarantine authorities be strict in inspecting and verifying the sanitary conditions of maize exports according to the technical principles.

7). In the actual implementation, if there are any conveniences or difficulties, immediate report to the Department of Agriculture according to the procedure to consider and find solutions in a timely manner.

This instruction is effective from the date of signature.

 

 

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1	Instruction on plant hygiene measures for the export of maize from Lao PDR to China, No. 0878/DA, date 20 April 2023.	PDF
2	ຄໍາແນະນໍາ ກ່ຽວກັບ ເງື່່່ອນໄຂສຸຂານາໄມພືດ ສໍາລັບການສົ່ງອອກສາລີ ຈາກ ສປປ ລາວ ໄປ ສປ ຈີນ, ເລກທີ 0878/ກປຝ, ລົງວັນທີ 20 ເມສາ 2023.	PDF