Thailand and Vietnam quickly implemented strong measures to review the quality of the entire export shipment, while Malaysia has not made a clear reaction.
Since the beginning of January 2025, China is forced to all durian lots imported from Thailand and Vietnam must have a certificate of gold quality test O (Auramine O) and Cadmium, after detecting yellow residues O In some durian batches from Thailand at the end of 2024. This is an industrial dye banned in food due to the risk of cancer.
Tightening inspection causes many shipments from Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam – the three largest durian exporters of China – being congested or returned, forcing exporters to quickly find solutions for advance. Deputy.
Thailand opposite “nightmares”
The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives immediately stopped exporting at 26 durian packaging facilities after China returned more than 64 tons of durian in yellow o.
This 12 million baht ($ 540,000) shipment was destroyed on February 7 under the supervision of the authorities and the press, according to Thai News.
Hundreds of Durian containers of Thailand were also congested at the border gate forcing the government to urgently send a delegation to Beijing, directly negotiating with the General Department of Customs of China (GACC) Export and protect benefits for businesses in this country.
In fact, Chinese Customs returned about 100 durian containers imported before January 10 to Thailand. The total damage is estimated at 500 million baht (US $ 15 million).
Facing pressure from the Chinese market, Minister Narumon Pinyosinwat said Thailand has deployed inspection teams to fruit packaging to control quality, especially in two provinces of Chumphon and Nakhon Si Thammarat – regions. Growing key durian.
At the same time, the Department of Agriculture also requires the entire shipment to undergo a test process twice in the laboratory before export.
Currently, 6 laboratories have been appointed to check the quality of gold, to ensure strict compliance with new testing standards from China. Accordingly, the inspection of gold residues O is conducted on both the shell and durian rice.
Notably, the Thai Agriculture Department also strongly implemented the “4 no” policy for durian fruit, including fiercely saying no to the export of young durian, infected with pests and banned chemicals. .
After the efforts of “sprinting”, the Thai government announced that the durian of the country has officially returned to China.
From January 20-21, about 96 tons of durian, worth 7.8 million Baht (USD 230,000), passed Nakhon Phanom border gate. In addition, about 45 tons of durian is waiting to complete the procedure to export from Suvarnabhumi airport.
Thus, since China applied strict testing measures with durian, Thailand took about 10 days to fix the problem.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and ITTHI Cooperative revealed 4 new laboratories will go into operation next week, helping to increase the testing capacity to 1,300 samples per day. This will create favorable conditions for the entire durian inversely – mainly grown in the eastern and southern provinces of Thailand.
Although quickly removing the “scandal”, the Thai durian industry still faces many serious challenges. In 2024, durian exports to China decreased by 13%, from 990,000 tons in 2023 to 860,000 tons, leading to the export value of US $ 4.12 billion to US $ 3.75 billion. With increasingly strict control processes, the speed of export is at risk of slowing down, threatening Thailand’s dominant position in the billion -dollar market.
Not only that, this incident also made the prestige of Thai durian being shaken, in the context of Vietnam and Malaysia are increasing export output to China.
Durian Malaysia, Vietnam is contagious
Meanwhile, Malaysia, though not yet announced specific response measures, has experience in controlling the quality of durian export.
In August 24, Malaysia exported the first fresh durian batch to China, marking an important step in accessing this market.
According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Datuk Arthur Joseph Kurup, the country has transported 40 tons of fresh durian in 3 stages to ensure food quality and food safety.
Currently, Malaysia has not been returned.
In Vietnam, as soon as China applied the new regulations, the management agency quickly coordinated with the General Department of Customs of China, recognizing 7 standard testing centers and unifying the inspection process.
However, because China was officially approved on January 17, Vietnam’s durian export was interrupted for nearly a week, causing many containers to turn to domestic consumption, causing damage to billions of dong. This also pulls durian prices in the country.
Thanks to the standard testing system with a capacity of about 100 samples/day each center, the inspection process has taken place quickly, helping the shipments soon clearance.
As of January 26, there were 9 laboratories in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho and Ca Mau were approved by China. However, this figure is still too little compared to the actual testing needs, making the export progress unexpected.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, from the beginning of the year to mid -February, Vietnam only exports 3,500 tons of durian to China, down 80% over the same period last year.
At Huu Nghi border gate, from the beginning of February, only 25 durian cars were cleared, equal to 5-10% compared to 2024. At Tan Thanh border gate, this figure is even lower, with only 17 cars exported by exports .
Export stagnated, causing excess domestic supply, pulling durian prices to reduce records. Despite being inversely, the purchasing price of RI6 durian only ranges from 45,000-65,000 VND/kg, down to 50,000 VND/kg compared to the same period last year.
