Vietnamese dragon fruit are on track to joining litchis and mangoes on the country's portfolio of fruits that will likely be allowed into Australia.

Vietnamese litchis were first exported to Australia in May 2015 with 28 metric tons (MT) shipped for the year, while a risk assessment was completed for the country's mangoes in November with work ongoing to finalize trading arrangements.

Now, the Australian Embassy in Vietnam has highlighted progress for another crop, with the Australian authorities starting work on market access for fresh Vietnamese dragon fruit.

"Fresh dragon fruit is one of Vietnam's top priorities for horticultural market access. Australia has already undertaken preliminary work on the assessment, including reviewing pests and diseases, following strong collaboration between the Governments of Australia and Vietnam," the Embassy said.

"Further work on risk assessment will be carried out in the next few months, including a field visit to production areas and an assessment of production and export practices."

A draft report is expected to be released for public comment later in 2016.

Meanwhile, the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources has also made announcements this month it is assessing requests to grant import market access for fresh limes from the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu, and has recommended a series of measures for importing fresh Chinese nectarines.

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