Nearly 2,000 durian containers stuck: Testing room reopens

(Dan Tri) - With nearly 2,000 containers of Dak Lak durian stuck and unable to be exported pending chemical residue testing, the testing laboratories have now resumed operations.

On October 27, a leader of the Dak Lak Province Durian Association confirmed that the designated laboratories to test for Cadmium and O-yellow chemical residues in exported durians have resumed operations after a temporary suspension for system maintenance and upgrade.

According to the leader of the Dak Lak Province Durian Association, recently ministries and branches met to resolve difficulties in the issue of inspecting exported durian.

Thousands of containers had to "wait" to be inspected before being exported (Photo: Uy Nguyen).

"Laboratories are back in operation, many containers have been inspected and exported. Dak Lak still has 40,000-50,000 tons of unharvested durian in the communes of Krong Nang, Krong Buk, and Ea H'leo.

If the laboratories do not operate in time to test the products, durian will not be eligible for export, greatly affecting the industry," said the leader of the Durian Association.

According to a director of an agricultural export enterprise in Dak Lak, for more than 10 days now, testing laboratories have stopped operating, making durian export enterprises "sit on fire", forced to refrigerate durian and have to run containers continuously, which is very costly.

"Due to the long waiting time, we had to consider the option of peeling the segments and dividing the durians into retail sales to minimize losses. Some units even had poor preservation, leading to the durians being damaged. Hearing that the inspection units were back in operation, we were very happy and hoped that the export would continue smoothly," the director shared.

Some businesses are considering separating and freezing durian segments to minimize damage (Illustration: Uy Nguyen).

According to Ms. Hanh (43 years old, residing in Krong Nang commune, Dak Lak province), in the past few days her family has been "losing sleep and appetite" waiting for traders to harvest durian as promised. Due to the procedure of chemical residue testing, durian cannot be exported as planned, so the harvesting in the garden has also been temporarily suspended.

"Some durians were overripe and fell in the garden, forcing my family to sell them at low prices while waiting for traders to come and cut them," said Ms. Hanh.

Previously, from October 11 to October 23, the laboratories designated to test for Cadmium and Yellow O chemical residues in exported durians temporarily stopped operating due to system maintenance and upgrades.

Many businesses have been unable to complete the inspection and certification procedures for export shipments as required. This has led to nearly 2,000 containers of durian being stuck in warehouses, factories, on the way to transport and at border gates.

Many businesses were forced to temporarily stop purchasing, causing the price of durian on the market to drop sharply. Many farmers did not dare to cut their crops, causing thousands of tons of durian to be at risk of ripening and spoiling in the garden.

The Dak Lak Province Durian Association has sent a petition to the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment , and the Dak Lak Provincial People's Committee for support in removing difficulties in durian consumption and export.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/vu-gan-2000-container-sau-rieng-bi-un-u-phong-kiem-nghiem-hoat-dong-lai-20251027182519348.htm