Durian exports stabilize again after short interruption due to testing

After a short period of being affected by the inspection bottleneck, Vietnam's durian export activities have stabilized again, ensuring customs clearance progress and product consumption for people and businesses, especially in the end-of-season area in the Central Highlands region.

Packing durian for export to the Chinese market. Photo: VNA

Recently, there has been some information reflecting the situation of durian congestion in some localities; including Dak Lak - the locality with the largest durian growing area in the country. The cause was determined to be that some testing rooms temporarily stopped operating for maintenance, repair or waiting for capacity reassessment, leading to the fact that businesses could not complete the analysis of Cadmium and Yellow O indicators - mandatory conditions for granting export certification to China.

This situation has slowed down customs clearance, affected consumption activities, and caused concern among the business community and durian growers. However, in this situation, on October 24, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Hoang Trung held an urgent meeting with relevant units, requesting designated facilities to review their operating status, transparent capacity, and ensure accuracy and consistency between domestic and Chinese results. The Deputy Minister directed that testing work must be carried out quickly and seriously to avoid data discrepancies that cause exported goods to be returned. Therefore, the above situation was handled promptly.

Mr. Huynh Tan Dat, Director of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, said that Vietnam currently has 24 testing laboratories recognized by the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) to serve durian exports, with a total capacity of about 3,200 samples/day, enough to meet actual demand. However, since mid-October, some laboratories have temporarily stopped operating, affecting the testing progress.

Up to now, after a week of drastic action and close direction from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the situation of durian testing has basically returned to normal. Testing rooms have resumed operations, increased working hours, and ensured delivery progress for businesses.

“The goal is to not let any shipment be interrupted just because of testing or technical procedures,” said Mr. Huynh Tan Dat.

According to the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, durian export activities at the main border gates are currently running smoothly. Every day, about 300-400 durian trucks clear customs; of which about 200-250 trucks are in Lang Son, 100-150 trucks in Lao Cai and about 50 trucks in Mong Cai.

Mr. Huynh Tan Dat added that the domestic durian output is not much because it is the end of the season. Enterprises and localities need to continue to maintain market stability, avoid panic and coordinate closely with authorities when problems arise to receive timely guidance and handling.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has assigned the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development to coordinate with the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection to review the capacity of laboratories, send experts to support localities, and mobilize maximum units with legal conditions to handle the remaining samples. The goal is to ensure smooth export and protect production for about 150,000 hectares of durian with an expected output of over 1.5 million tons in 2025.

In Dak Lak, the work of harvesting and consuming durian has basically been completed. According to Ms. Dang Thi Thuy, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dak Lak, the whole province currently has nearly 45,000 hectares of durian, of which more than 26,000 hectares have been harvested. The output in 2025 is estimated at 390,000 tons, an increase of about 30,000 tons compared to the previous year. By the end of October, the remaining output was only about 10%, equivalent to 30,000-40,000 tons, concentrated in some communes such as Ea Toh, DliêYa, Ea Tan and Ea Ba.

The current price of durian at the garden is around 60,000-70,000 VND/kg, although it has decreased compared to last year, people still make a good profit. Some businesses have encountered difficulties in the testing process, but so far the purchasing and consumption activities have stabilized.

Dak Lak currently has 269 growing area codes and 40 packaging facilities granted official export codes to China. Of these, 224 areas have authorized enterprises to export with an output of more than 180,000 tons; the remaining 45 areas carry out direct exports. When the situation of temporarily suspending the issuance of Cadmium and Yellow O testing certificates arose, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dak Lak promptly reported to the Provincial People's Committee and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, recommending that testing centers speed up sample processing to avoid interruption of export activities.

According to Ms. Dang Thi Thuy, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dak Lak is coordinating with units of the Ministry, the Dak Lak Durian Association and businesses to remove difficulties, ensure the consumption of all end-of-season output, maintain market stability and maintain the reputation of local agricultural products.

From the perspective of businesses, Mr. Le Anh Trung, Chairman of the Dak Lak Durian Association, said that since mid-October, the testing of the two indicators Cadmium and Yellow O has been congested, mainly because businesses have concentrated their testing at two qualified centers, leading to overload and slow results. However, after only one week since the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment held an urgent meeting and directed relevant units, this situation has been basically resolved.

Mr. Le Anh Trung assessed that the testing rooms have worked continuously to return results promptly, helping businesses continue to purchase and export the remaining output.

The Dak Lak Durian Association will continue to coordinate with the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Agriculture and Environment to implement the 2026 plan on building a sustainable durian production and consumption chain. It is expected that at the end of November, Dak Lak province will hold a conference to discuss long-term development solutions for this industry.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/xuat-khau-sau-rieng-on-dinh-tro-lai-sau-thoi-gian-ngan-gian-doan-boi-kiem-nghiem-20251101195745012.htm