Vietnam now able to export durian to China from 1,469 planting areas and 188 packaging facilities
China has approved an additional 829 planting area codes and 131 packaging facility codes for Vietnamese durian, according to the country’s Plant Protection Department.
Unlike other exported fruit like mango and lychee, China requires Vietnam to submit dossiers to receive approved export codes for growing and packaging durian for export to China. The approval process includes direct or online inspections of the proposed sites.
These new approvals mean Vietnam now has a total of 1,469 planting areas and 188 packaging facilities approved for the use of durian exports to China, according to a report by Viet Nam News.
Tô Vạn Quang, vice chairman of the Việt Nam–China Business Association in Guangxi, told the local publication durian exports to China have seen explosive growth in recent years.
Since signing the bilateral durian export protocol in 2022, over 90 per cent of Vietnam’s durian output has been exported to China. Tô said that in 2023, exports grew to a value of US$2.2bn, up from US$188mn in 2022, capturing 31.8 per cent of China’s durian market. He added that at peak times, Vietnamese durian has accounted for up to 57 per cent of China’s durian imports.
Despite this growing opportunity for Vietnamese exporters, China’s strict plant quarantine and food safety regulations have posed some challenges for the local industry.
In response to China’s updated requirements to control cadmium and auramine O content in imported durians, Viet Nam News said the Plant Protection Department, which sits under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, had increased its monitoring of agricultural inputs. It is also working with market authorities to inspect and penalise substandard inputs.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will also seek to amend Article 64 of the Law on Crop Production to establish a legal basis for regulating planting area and packaging facility codes.
Through the amendment, the Ministry aims to address issues with code trading and falsification which make it difficult to trace origins and control fruit quality.
Viet Nam News said the ministry also promotes a linked supply chain model that enables full traceability from production to packaging and export. The model includes testing at each stage including on the farm, at the packing facility and finally before being loaded into containers for export.
