The Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection has just issued an announcement on the latest evaluation results from the General Administration of Customs of China regarding Vietnamese laboratories performing testing for Cadmium indicators and Auramine O substances on exported fruit.

Adding testing capacity for the core export commodity sector

The fact that the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) continues to recognize additional Vietnamese laboratories as qualified to test for Cadmium and Auramine O is evaluated as an important step forward for agricultural export activities.

Not only helping to relieve domestic testing pressure, this move also contributes to enhancing quality control capacity and consolidating the reputation of Vietnamese agricultural products in the Chinese market.

According to Official Dispatch No. 2486/TTTV-ATTPMT, GACC has additionally recognized 2 laboratories for Cadmium testing, 4 laboratories for Auramine O testing, and restored the operational status of one laboratory for Cadmium testing.

After completing the procedures to verify report templates with the Chinese side, these units will officially be permitted to deploy testing activities serving fruit exports to the Chinese market.

The latest evaluation results are viewed as a positive signal for the agricultural exporting business community. In recent years, China has not only been the largest consumer market for Vietnamese fruits and vegetables but is also a market that continuously elevates technical standards for imported goods.

For many key commodities such as durian, dragon fruit, banana, jackfruit, or passion fruit, testing results from laboratories recognized by GACC are currently one of the mandatory conditions to finalize export dossiers.

Cadmium is a heavy metal that can reside in soil, water, or fertilizers and accumulate in agricultural products. Meanwhile, Auramine O is an industrial coloring agent prohibited from use in food. These are both indicators strictly controlled by the Chinese side to guarantee food safety for imported goods.

Reality indicates that upon merely detecting Cadmium content exceeding thresholds or Auramine O residues, a shipment can be denied customs clearance, even leading to the application of special control measures against the related enterprise or growing zone.

Therefore, increasing the number of recognized laboratories holds significant meaning in reducing the load on the existing testing system, shortening turnaround times for results, and restricting the risk of goods stagnation during peak export seasons.

According to evaluations by enterprises in the industry, testing capacity currently is not only a technical issue but also directly impacts logistics costs and contract execution capabilities. Each day waiting for testing results can generate costs for warehousing, container demurrage, and affect the quality of goods, especially for fresh fruit items.

In a context where fruit and vegetable exports continuously grow and technical requirements become increasingly stringent, GACC expanding the list of recognized laboratories is viewed as a necessary step to ensure the agricultural supply chain operates smoothly.

Enterprises participate deeply in the export quality control chain

Alongside public units, the laboratory system serving agricultural exports currently records the increasingly powerful participation of the private sector with substantial investments in facilities, equipment, and human resources.

Among them, the Tan Dai Duong Testing and Inspection Center is evaluated as one of the units possessing a systematic investment scale in the Northern region. The center is constructed with an area of approximately 430 m2, equipped with multiple modern analytical equipment systems serving the inspection of food safety indicators, chemical residues, heavy metals, and technical requirements for agricultural exports.

The participation of Tan Dai Duong in the recognized laboratory system not only contributes to increasing testing capacity for the agricultural sector but also creates additional choices for enterprises during the process of finalizing export dossiers.

The participation of capable private laboratories helps shape a wider testing network, reduces pressure on public units, and simultaneously drives competition in service quality, sample processing speed, and the accuracy of analytical results.

This is also an inevitable trend as agricultural export activities progressively shift from competing on volume to competing on quality and the capacity to satisfy international standards.

From a management perspective, the latest evaluation results from GACC demonstrate that the capacity of Vietnam's testing system is step-by-step being recognized. However, along with being recognized, laboratories must also strictly comply with quality management requirements, guaranteeing the accuracy and reliability of testing results.

The Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection requested newly recognized and operation-restored units to enhance quality control throughout the entire testing process, bearing legal responsibility for their analytical results. Simultaneously, localities and specialized agencies are assigned tasks to enhance monitoring to guarantee that testing activities take place objectively, transparently, and against regulations.

In a context where the Chinese market continues to tighten requirements on traceability and food safety, expanding the network of international-standard laboratories not only helps guarantee immediate export activities but also contributes to raising the long-term competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural products. Testing results nowadays do not merely constitute a technical procedure but have become a “quality passport,” deciding the capacity to access and maintain positions for Vietnamese goods in major markets around the world.

Source: Bao Tai chinh - Dau tu