The King of Fruits: Why Can’t Vietnamese Durian Farmers Get a Slice of the Pie?

Synchronization Lessons

Thailand was the first country to be found with O-type gold residue, leading China to tighten inspections of all durian imports from the beginning of the year. Yet, just a few months later, Thailand became the first country to gain access to the “green lane” – a priority export corridor to the Chinese market.

Bangkok Post reported that Ms. Narumon Pinyosinwat, Thailand’s Minister of Agriculture, announced that the General Administration of Customs China (GACC) had agreed to open a “green lane” for Thai durian.

Accordingly, customs checkpoints operate 24/7 to facilitate the import of durian from Thailand. The Chinese government has also increased the number of laboratories to expand the scale of Thai durian testing.

Currently, the Thai Ministry of Commerce is negotiating with the Chinese government to further simplify export procedures, relax inspection measures, and expedite customs clearance.

Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, Secretary-General of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association (VINAFRUIT), stated: “The durian industry should learn from Thailand’s recovery. Currently, about 500 containers of durian, equivalent to 10,000 tons, are cleared daily at Chinese ports. Only a few containers are returned due to chemical residues. The extremely low violation rate became a convincing basis for the Thai government to negotiate with GACC to gain priority.”

The coordination in the quality management of Thai durian is evident through two levels of inspection. Firstly, there are over 300 “brokers,” which are local inspection stations responsible for early testing at the orchards. Only durian that meets the requirements at these “brokers” is permitted to be transported to the packaging facilities. Here, once again, the produce undergoes post-checks by units recognized by GACC before being loaded onto trucks to the border.

“Quality supervision doesn’t just happen at the final stage; it goes back to the production source. This is something Vietnam has yet to achieve. While Thai durian is traceable to the orchards, Vietnamese durian is often collected from multiple farms and then brought to packaging facilities. If violations are found, no one knows where the fault originates. This lack of transparency is why the Chinese side has not reduced the frequency of inspections for Vietnamese durian shipments,” emphasized Mr. Nguyen.

Why Vietnamese Durian is Still Struggling

While Thailand enters the harvest season with a smooth “green lane,” Vietnamese durian is still stuck. As of now, the volume of durian exported to China has only reached 10-20% compared to the same period last year. That means only about 200-300 containers are cleared daily, half of Thailand’s volume.

As of April 20, Thailand had exported durian to China with a value of $287 million. In contrast, Vietnam had only earned about $98 million in the first three months of the year.

Mr. Nguyen Van Muoi, Deputy Secretary-General of VINAFRUIT, shared: “I am very concerned that our billion-dollar industry has not made any progress in almost half a year. Many links in the value chain remain strangely indifferent.”

This indifference is evident in how many farmers are unaware of the quality of the durian they produce. They don’t know if their products have heavy metal residues or even care if the pesticides they use are safe.

A sample test to determine heavy metal residues costs only about VND 150,000, a negligible amount compared to the value of each durian shipment, yet few farmers voluntarily conduct these tests.

“We are doing a billion-dollar business, but we lack initiative at the grassroots level. Farmers must conduct their tests to negotiate prices and control input quality. We can’t rely on traders or businesses forever,” Mr. Muoi emphasized.

In reality, Vietnam has taken certain steps to improve the export process. However, most facilities can only trace the packaging location and not the orchards. When Chinese authorities re-inspect the shipments, many batches are found with violations, and accountability becomes challenging to determine. This is the fatal weakness of Vietnam’s durian industry today.

Mr. Muoi affirmed that only through the joint efforts of all links in the value chain – from production, testing, packaging to policy negotiation – can a sustainable industry be created.