China grants 829 more growing area codes, opening the "golden door" for Vietnamese durian

According to information from the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection ( Ministry of Agriculture and Environment ), the unit has submitted registration documents for 1,604 durian growing areas and 314 durian packing facilities to GACC. As of May 21, China has updated the list of officially recognized 829 growing area codes and 131 packing facility codes.

Expanding this list creates favorable conditions to increase official durian exports to China - a market that accounts for more than 90% of Vietnam's durian consumption since the two countries signed the Protocol on this item.

According to VNA, durian is currently the leading fruit and vegetable export item of Vietnam, reaching a turnover of about 3.3 billion USD in 2024, accounting for 46% of total fruit export turnover. Of which, the Chinese market contributes up to 3.2 billion USD, equivalent to 97% of the total durian export volume and 74% of the value of fruit and vegetables exported to this market.

Vietnam aims to increase durian export turnover to 3.5 billion USD in 2025. The area of ​​durian cultivation nationwide has increased rapidly, reaching nearly 180,000 hectares with an output of about 1.5 million tons in 2024. However, this rapid development is facing many challenges including fragmented growing areas, lack of planning, difficulty in quality control, lack of irrigation water and the abuse of pesticides.

In addition, businesses are also facing increasingly stringent technical requirements from China. In particular, counterfeiting and trading of growing area codes and packaging facilities still exist, making traceability difficult and seriously affecting the quality and reputation of goods.

Speaking to Dan Viet newspaper, Mr. Huynh Tan Dat, Director of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, said that the Department has built a national database on agricultural product exports. This system allows growing area codes to fully declare information such as codes, areas, output, seasons, and production - packaging - export chain links, thereby increasing transparency in management.

The Department is also working with industry associations to complete a process to strictly control the entire packaging process of agricultural products, especially durian. This process will be issued in the near future, with the content of controlling from input to before the product leaves the factory.

When shipments are fully controlled in the chain, the plant quarantine agency at the border gate will use this data to check, monitor and only allow the export of shipments that are in accordance with the declaration in the system.

In the coming time, the Department will build a synchronous control system from the growing area code to the packaging facility, ensuring requirements on food safety, plant quarantine and traceability. At the same time, the Department is urgently drafting a circular on durian management from the production stage to before export, as well as submitting to the Government a draft telegram with comprehensive solutions for this industry.

At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is also developing a legal, technical and scientific plan to serve the negotiation process to open new import markets. The long-term goal is to clear bottlenecks, reduce dependence on single markets and promote sustainable development for the Vietnamese durian industry.

Thanh Ha

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/trung-quoc-cap-them-829-ma-vung-trong-mo-canh-cua-vang-cho-sau-rieng-viet-post549298.html