Recently, there has been some information related to the congestion of durian exports in some Central Highlands localities, including Dak Lak - the largest growing area in the country.
The reason is said to be that some testing rooms have temporarily stopped operating, causing businesses to not be able to complete the analysis procedures for Cadimi and O Gold indicators - mandatory conditions for granting export certificates. This situation slows down the customs clearance progress, directly affecting the consumption of durian, causing damage to businesses and people growing durian.
According to Mr. Huynh Tan Dat, Director of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, Vietnam currently has 24 testing rooms recognized by the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) for durian exports, with a total theoretical capacity of about 3,200 samples/day - enough to meet actual demand. However, since mid-October 2025, some testing rooms have temporarily stopped operations due to maintenance, equipment damage or waiting for re-evaluation.
In that situation, on October 24, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Hoang Trung held an urgent meeting with relevant units, requesting the designated facilities to review the operational status, transparency of capacity and ensure accuracy and unity between the domestic and Chinese results. The Deputy Minister directed that the testing work should be carried out quickly and seriously, avoiding data errors that can lead to exported goods being returned.
Up to now, after a week of drastic action and close direction from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the durian testing situation has basically returned to normal, ensuring trade activities for businesses. In the coming time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will continue to direct and synchronously mobilize relevant Departments, Departments and units to participate, coordinate with the Chinese side to remove each specific problem. The goal is not to interrupt any shipment just because of testing or technical procedures, said Mr. Huynh Tan Dat.
The Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development is assigned to review the capacity of laboratories, coordinate with the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection to send experts to support the locality. The Ministry also requested the maximum mobilization of qualified legal units to handle the amount of remaining samples, ensure smooth export, and protect production for about 150,000 hectares of durian with an expected output of over 1.5 million tons this year.
Mr. Le Anh Trung, Chairman of the Dak Lak Durian Association, highly appreciated the quick and drastic direction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. On the afternoon of October 24, the Ministry directly took action, holding an urgent meeting with the laboratories to remove the problem.
"Within just one week (from October 24), thanks to the direction of the Government and the synchronous coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, with Departments and localities, the situation of backlog of testing samples has been basically resolved. The previously suspended testing rooms have resumed operations, working through the night to return timely results to the enterprise.
The backlog has been resolved, the market is gradually stabilizing, businesses can now confidently continue to buy and export the remaining output, accounting for about 10%, equivalent to tens of thousands of tons," said Mr. Le Anh Trung.
