Apple exporters in China will have to come up with new, non-controversial packaging if they want to resume sending the fruit to Vietnam, authorities said last week.
“Importers will have to cancel those cartons if they want to want to import apples to Vietnam,” Pham Trung Vinh, deputy customs director in Quang Ninh province.
Authorities in the province, which borders Guangxi province in China, started refusing the Chinese apple shipments in late September after noticing that cartons were printed with the claim “Diaoyu Island belongs to China” in English and Chinese.
The East China Sea island is also claimed by Japan, which calls it Senkaku.