Vietnam Fresh Durian insights

Core Tip: According to Vietnamese media reports, as early as January 9, the Plant Protection Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Vietnam had coordinated with relevant departments to send a list of laboratories with alkaline yellow testing qualifications to China for approval. On the morning of January 10, the plant protection department held an emergency meeting with enterprises and local governments to announce and publicize China's new regulations.

After nearly 10 days of preparation, the Thai Ministry of Agriculture has responded quickly. Six laboratories have been approved by the General Administration of Customs of China and can issue alkaline yellow test reports. From January 20 to 21, the Thai checkpoints have successively released 13 batches of durian with a total of 155.5 tons of test reports. Unlike Thailand's quick response, the relevant departments of the Vietnamese government have not responded yet. As of now, Vietnam has no designated agency or unit that can test and issue alkaline yellow test reports, resulting in stagnation in durian exports to China. Doan Van, general manager of Anh Thu Company in Dak Lak Province Ven said that the company's 10 containers of about 170 tons of durian were only tested for heavy metal cadmium. Due to the lack of alkaline yellow test reports, they waited at the port for nearly 10 days but still could not pass customs. The company was worried that the goods would be damaged and had to return the durian. Now the company has to suspend the export of durian to China. On the one hand, durian cannot be exported, and a large number of durian are returned from the port and can only be sold at low prices in Vietnam. On the other hand, Vietnam is about to enter the Spring Festival holiday, and the logistics capacity is tight. Most durian warehouses even choose to close in advance, causing the price of durian in Vietnam to plummet. About a month ago, the former Mekong Delta In Jiang Province, the purchase price of Golden Pillow durian is as high as 170,000-200,000 VND/kg, and Ri6 durian is also over 100,000 VND/kg. In recent days, the factory purchase price of Golden Pillow durian has dropped to 80,000 VND/kg, and Ri6 durian is only 40,000 VND/kg. The Vietnamese durian industry hopes that the Vietnamese government can cooperate with China as soon as possible to set up a special testing unit to issue alkaline yellow test reports for durian export. Now Vietnam is in the off-season for durian to be put on the market, and the durian market in the Mekong Delta is not large. If the durian production season in the western region enters in March, the price of durian may be greatly affected.

'We are just an association, have no management function and have not been instructed on the procedures for issuing a gold O certificate', said the General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association.