This was one of the critical issues raised at the Conference on Growing Area and Packaging Facility Management to Promote Durian Exports for the 2026 Crop Season on May 26, organized by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Lam Dong Province.

According to the local agricultural sector, the province currently possesses approximately 45,500 hectares of durian—the largest in the country—with output in 2026 projected to surpass 310,000 tons. Within this total, high-tech application areas account for about 14,400 hectares, representing 32.5%, while around 1,015 hectares have achieved VietGAP certification.

To date, Lam Dong has been granted 346 durian growing area codes covering more than 13,297 hectares, alongside 70 packaging facility codes serving export markets and 69 growing area codes serving domestic consumption.

However, the shortage of standard-compliant testing laboratories is creating massive pressure on both enterprises and citizens. During peak harvest times, the overloading of laboratories analyzing cadmium and Auramine O criteria slows down cargo circulation, threatening to disrupt export timelines.

According to Mr. Vu Dinh Cuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Lam Dong Province, the locality enjoys numerous advantages in climate and soil conditions to develop high-quality specialized durian cultivation zones. Nevertheless, major gaps remain in managing growing area codes and packaging facilities.

Some farming households fail to fully comply with technical processes, record-keeping in production logs remains a mere formality, and the usage of plant protection chemicals does not follow regulations accurately. Notably, the practice of "code-borrowing" and "code-selling" for growing areas and packaging facilities continues to occur, harboring immense risks in traceability and directly harming the reputation of local durian exports.

Mr. Cuong noted that the authorization to use growing area and packaging facility codes among farming households, cooperatives, and export enterprises currently lacks concrete legal binding. When violations occur leading to code revocations by the importing side, identifying the exact responsibility of each involved party proves highly difficult. Additionally, updating data for growing areas and packaging facilities encounters various hardships due to information fluctuations following administrative unit mergers.

Although the Government has enacted Decree No. 38/2026/NĐ-CP regulating the issuance and management of growing area codes and packaging facility codes, there are still no administrative violation sanctions associated with it to date. This leaves management tasks and the handling of violating cases facing considerable confusion.

Source: Bao Thanh Nien