Following a struggles with meeting international export regulations, Vietnam introduces national standards to support quality management and maintain the country’s trade position
Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is soliciting comments on the draft national standard (TCVN) on fresh durian, to be submitted to the Ministry of Science and Technology for promulgation, according to reporting from local publication TuoiTre.
The draft reveals that the national standard will apply to Ri6, Dona and other durian varieties produced in Vietnam for export and domestic consumption.
Once passed, the TCVN will require Vietnamese durian intended for sale to be free from pests and diseases that affect the appearance of the fruit. The fruit mustn’t be damaged, rotten or unfit for consumptions and any fruit with unripe flesh, burnt brown or dark brown flesh, wet core or watery flesh will not be accepted.
In order to meet the national standard, the total amount of defects must not exceed more than 5 per cent of the edible portion of the fruit.
There are also guidelines for development with differing criteria depending on the variety, season and growing area.
For the Ri6 durian variety, the standard guidelines suggest fruit should be harvested 85-100 days after flowering in the Mekong Delta and Southeast regions and 100-120 days in the Central Highlands and South Central Coast regions.
The Dona durian variety should be harvested 110-130 days after flowering in the Mekong Delta and Southeast regions and 125-135 days in the Central Highlands and South Central Coast regions.
The different varieties also have differing dry matter and Brix level requirements.
For the Ri6, dry matter content must exceed 32.29 per cent and the Brix must not be lower than 16.04 per cent. For the Dona variety, dry matter content must exceed 32.22 per cent and Brix must be above 16.07 per cent.
As expected, the draft addressed food safety requirements, saying that all fruit must not exceed maximum residue limits for pesticides or heavy metals according to regulation in each export market, making special note of China.
There were also standardised regulations for durian size, grading, packaging, labelling, testing and sampling methods.
