Nearly 2,000 containers of exported durian are congested.

Nearly 2,000 containers of durian exported from Dak Lak province are stuck at warehouses and border gates after designated laboratories temporarily stopped receiving samples and returning residue test results.

According to the Dak Lak Durian Association, there are currently only a few units with the capacity to simultaneously test the two mandatory indicators of Cadmium and Yellow O. This has caused purchasing and exporting activities to stagnate, and the price of durian at the garden has dropped sharply from over 100,000 VND to about 80,000 VND/kg, causing great losses to farmers. The Association has recommended that the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment quickly restore testing activities and prioritize processing export samples during the peak harvest period.

Some laboratories have started returning results, but the acceptance of new samples is still limited. If this situation continues, it will greatly affect the delivery schedule and reputation of Vietnamese durian in the international market.

Solutions to remove congestion of exported durian

Faced with the situation of durian exports being congested at border gates, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment held an urgent meeting with durian testing laboratories across the country to find a solution.

Equipment under maintenance, repair or breakdown were the top reasons given by testing laboratories to explain the delay in testing for Cadmium and Yellow O residues on durian at an online meeting held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment last weekend. In addition, the testing capacity of the centers was also one of the reasons given.

Nearly 2,000 containers of exported durian are congested.

Mr. Tran Duy Phong - Director of the Center for Processing Quality and Market Development of Region I, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said: "Serving State management as well as serving the needs of people and businesses with many different subjects and samples of agricultural and aquatic products. Due to the single device, at the same time, when receiving many analysis needs on many sample subjects, it is impossible to focus exclusively on durian samples. That is a big difficulty".

To resolve the delay in durian testing, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has asked units to review legal conditions, increase equipment and human resources of testing laboratories. At the same time, speed up the approval process for new testing laboratories.

Mr. Hoang Trung - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment shared: "We have been and are continuing to work with the General Administration of Customs of China to strengthen and quickly promote their approval and recognition of more of our testing laboratories, as well as the suspended laboratories will be re-recognized sooner. Those are the solutions we need to do immediately."

In addition to temporary solutions, the fundamental solution is to ensure honesty, accuracy and prevent negativity in the testing rooms themselves, which is a topical issue at this time. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has also set out to handle and prevent Cadmium and Yellow O residues from the source to facilitate and maintain the reputation of exported durian.

Mr. Hoang Trung - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment commented: "We are closely coordinating with the police agencies to implement the traceability issue for Vang O. Currently, it is being used for durian processing for export. We have also completed a technical report from determining the cause, remedial measures and management measures to send to the Chinese side, for them to evaluate, review, even have technical and inspection teams with us. On that basis, we propose to them that we will waive two additional measures".

In fact, the durian season in the Central Highlands is only about 10 days away. Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment requires testing centers across the country to work at full capacity to ensure accuracy to serve businesses and people.

Review durian testing laboratories nationwide

Faced with the situation of some durian batches exported to China being stuck due to slow residue testing, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has just requested localities to urgently review all testing centers recognized by China.

Currently, there are 24 laboratories nationwide approved by the General Administration of Customs of China to test Cadmium and Yellow O residues in exported durians, with a total capacity to process about 3,200 samples per day. However, many of these units are temporarily suspended for the same unusual reason of maintenance or awaiting re-evaluation, leading to the risk of interruption in the sampling and return of results.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment requires departments with legal, equipment and human resources to speed up work, even "running day and night" to meet export demand. Along with that, it is necessary to ensure accurate and unified testing procedures, avoiding discrepancies in results between domestic and Chinese, affecting the reputation of Vietnamese agricultural products. Currently, the Ministry is coordinating with localities and durian associations to update the list of departments with operational capacity, while speeding up the appraisal and expanding the number of qualified units. This is to ensure that the durian export chain - an item that brings in billions of dollars each year - is maintained stably and sustainably.

Source: https://vtv.vn/gan-2000-container-sau-rieng-xuat-khau-bi-un-u-100251027110710307.htm