Durian prices increase sharply, quality control warnings

In Tien Giang - the locality with the largest durian growing area in the Mekong Delta, according to Mr. Vo Van Men, Director of the Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of this province, currently off-season durians are still harvested evenly and stable consumed. The price of grade 1 durian can be up to VND 150,000 - 180,000/kg, depending on variety and quality. The main season will not begin until the end of April, so prices may remain high from now on.

In 2023, durian exports reached a turnover of US$ 2.3 billion, while the Chinese market will account for US$ 2.1 billion. Thanks to the "rapid" growth of durian, the export turnover of the fruit and vegetable industry in 2023 reached a record number of US$ 5.7 billion. The growth momentum continues in the first months of 2024. Preliminary estimates, in just the first 3 months of the year, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports reached nearly US$ 1.25 billion, an increase of 27% over the same period in 2023.

Recently, the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) announced: Receiving warning information from the Animal and Plant Quarantine Department (General Administration of Customs of China - GACC) about 30 shipments of Vietnamese durian exported to China were contaminated with the heavy metal cadmium beyond the limit of China's food safety regulations. These shipments belong to 18 enterprises, which were discovered by the Chinese side to be in violation from June 2023 to January 2024.

The Plant Protection Department has sent documents to the Plant Quarantine Branches, the Department of Food Safety of Ho Chi Minh City, the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development of the provinces, and businesses on the warning list requesting investigation, retrieval of warned shipments, review of all records, production, collection, and export processes; organize remediation and apply preventive measures to avoid recurrence of violations; Have a written report on implementation results to the Department before April 1. The Department also requests local management agencies to monitor businesses in implementing the above requirements and verify reports on the reasons for the warned shipments and corrective measures of businesses.

On February 7, 2024, the EU officially monitored Vietnamese durian products at the border gate with an inspection frequency of 10% of shipments. This is a new update this year alongside other items such as bell peppers and instant noodles. The EU is one of the durian export markets with the strongest growth rate in Vietnam.