Raising standards for fruit packing houses for export

Building a standard packing house plays a key role in meeting the strict standards of export markets.

Mr. Peter Johnson, international expert on Value Chain, GQSP Vietnam project, trained on quality control at the workshop.

This is the main content discussed at the workshop "Building a quality assurance system for fruit export packing houses" organized by the Southern Fruit Institute in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization on December 5 in Dong Thap province.

Speaking at the workshop, Dr. Vo Huu Thoai, Director of the Southern Fruit Research Institute, said that the Vietnamese fruit industry is facing many great opportunities as export demand increases sharply and the international market is expanding. However, along with opportunities come significant challenges, especially the increasingly stringent requirements on product quality, food safety, traceability and compliance with technical regulations of import markets.

In that context, building and operating a quality assurance system at the packing house - where consistency and compliance with international standards are determined - has become an urgent task of strategic significance for the sustainable development of the Vietnamese fruit industry.

The Director of the Southern Fruit Institute said he will continue to accompany localities, businesses and farmers in research, technology transfer and building modern fruit value chains.

At the workshop, delegates had the opportunity to exchange and share in-depth knowledge with international fruit experts, domestic and foreign scientists on the implementation of a quality assurance system for packers in the fruit export supply chain. This is identified as a mandatory and challenging requirement for Vietnamese fruit products to meet the standards of import markets.

The main contents covered include: Principles and standards for quality assurance, traceability, identification of critical control points (CCP) throughout the supply chain; learning about monitoring tools, nutritional values, food safety and post-harvest handling of fresh fruits, along with physical and chemical measurement measures. The workshop also introduced typical domestic and international packing house models for units to refer to and learn from.

Delegates participate in practical exercises at the workshop.

Up to now, the country has issued more than 9,200 growing area codes and more than 1,730 packing facility codes for many types of fresh fruits and key agricultural products such as dragon fruit, mango, durian, banana, grapefruit, lychee, longan, sweet potato... exported to major markets such as China, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Japan... These packing facilities are distributed in 33 provinces and cities across the country.

In particular, after the reorganization of provincial administrative units, Dong Thap is the leading locality in the country in terms of the number of growing areas and packaging facilities, with 387 packaging facilities operating for export. Many facilities in Dong Thap, Tay Ninh , Vinh Long have achieved international standards such as HACCP, GlobalGAP, ISO, especially for fruits with strong packaging systems such as dragon fruit, mango, durian, banana, longan, grapefruit, serving mainly the markets of China, the US and Japan.

However, in addition to the positive results, many domestic packaging facilities are still limited in terms of small scale, simple technology, and lack of synchronization in traceability between growing areas - cooperatives - enterprises. The competitiveness of Vietnamese fruits is still not high compared to other countries in the region such as Thailand and the Philippines. In addition, the investment costs for standard facilities, especially cold storage and irradiation treatment, are still quite high. Through the workshop, businesses and packaging facility owners are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills in building, managing and operating packaging houses, contributing to improving the quality of post-harvest fruit preservation and promoting sustainable exports.

According to the Department of Industry and Trade of Dong Thap province, in 2025, agricultural exports, especially local fruits, are facing opportunities and challenges, facing technical barriers from importing countries that need to be overcome. Therefore, the establishment of growing area codes, packaging facility codes, and reorganization of production towards safety and traceability is extremely necessary, helping to increase value in the export fruit chain in the current situation.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/nang-chuan-nha-dong-goi-trai-cay-xuat-khau-20251205154418731.htm