Fraudulent growing area codes is a never-ending issue for Vietnamese agricultural exports, especially durian – a billion-dollar fruit.

Recently, the Inspectorate of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dak Lak province discovered that a durian enterprise in this province had affixed a packaging code in Ho Chi Minh City for export.

Accordingly, during a surprise inspection of the Uyen Diep Agricultural Cooperative in Hamlet 19-5 (Ea Yong Commune, Krong Pak District, Dak Lak), the delegation discovered that this organization had "mistakenly" attached 2 packaging codes to durian boxes that were about to be loaded onto containers for official export to China.

The owner of this enterprise later admitted that up to now, his enterprise had not affixed the packaging code of the unit that was granted because he had not yet requested a growing area code that matched his packaging facility.

Durian has been one of the "hot" commodities on the market for more than 2 years, since China signed a protocol allowing official exports to the billion-people market. According to the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, in the first half of 2024, durian exports reached 1.5 billion USD.

In the first quarter of 2024, Vietnam surpassed Thailand to rise to the No. 1 position in durian exports to the Chinese market with a volume of 32,750 tons, worth 161 million USD, 2.4 times higher in volume than the same period last year. Vietnam's durian market share in China in terms of turnover increased from 32% in 2023 to 57% in the first quarter of 2024.

To facilitate qualified facilities to export durian to China, the Chinese side has issued codes for durian growing areas and packaging facilities qualified for export. By the end of the first quarter of 2024, according to data from the Plant Protection Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the whole country has 876 durian growing area codes and durian packing facility codes that are eligible for export to China. In other words, this is a "passport", a "passport" for facilities that meet the standards set by your side to be able to export this fruit to the Chinese market.

However, at many times, the rapid increase in durian demand from the billion-people market has caused packaging facilities and durian growing areas to be unable to meet market demand, causing many households and businesses to "borrow" growing area codes and commit fraud to export. During the past time, along with the increase in durian export turnover, authorities have continuously issued notices about impersonating durian growing area codes to take advantage of facilities that are not qualified to export.

Looking from Thailand - a country famous for durian, it can be seen that your side strictly manages growing area codes. Accordingly, the establishment of growing area codes for durian was implemented 10 years ago.

When farmers have codes, they are trained and instructed very carefully on the cultivation process, from the time the tree flowers and releases pistils, they must record and tie a string to mark, when the fruit is old enough, they must check the fruit, if the quality is guaranteed, they can cut and sell it to businesses. Farmers who intentionally cut unripe fruit will be severely punished because it will affect the quality and national brand of this fruit.

In addition, the country also strictly handles cases of counterfeiting and fraud of growing area codes, and includes violations in the law. The Criminal Code stipulates that any seller who deceives buyers about the origin, nature, quality or quantity of goods will be imprisoned for up to 3 years or fined up to 60,000 Baht (about 40 million VND).

Up to now, Thailand has had about 20,000 growing area codes and 2,000 durian packing facility codes. Even though shipments come from facilities with growing area codes that are eligible for export, when they reach the border, the country's customs still check again. If the quality is not guaranteed, they are willing to cancel or request the goods to be returned, to ensure the reputation of the durian brand. If any growing area is repeatedly violated, the growing area code will be revoked.

In the context of Vietnam's strong agricultural exports to China, with the rapid increase in the number of products granted growing area codes, China has increased its inspection of procedures, especially when the authorities detect an increase in the number of violating batches. When there are many violations, China will increase the rate of inspection of shipments at the border gate, online monitoring at the garden, at the packaging facility, causing export costs to increase.

Notably, according to Chinese regulations, each growing area code will correspond to a certain area of ​​durian that is allowed to be exported. For example, with a growing area code of 5 hectares, it will allow the export of 100 tons of durian. When there is a phenomenon of businesses stealing growing area codes, the export quantity will exceed the regulation. If the partner customs detects, the growing area code will be deleted, the heaviest damage will be to farmers.

Currently, the authorities are making efforts to build measures to strictly control growing area codes by giving local authorities the authority to strictly control these codes. In addition, increasing sanctions for cases of violating regulations.

Despite the efforts of the authorities, currently, violations of growing area codes have not been thoroughly handled. Occasionally, some small-scale violations at gardens are discovered by the authorities and publicized by the media.

Currently, in addition to China, the European Union is increasing warnings for Vietnamese agricultural products. Other markets such as Japan and South Korea are also stepping up product quality control with non-tariff barriers. Therefore, it is thought that the efforts of the authorities are not enough. No matter how strong the sanctions are, they cannot cover every garden and every packaging facility. The most important thing is that gardeners must raise their awareness in protecting the "passport" and "passport" that the other side has licensed. Because after all, when fraud is discovered, the biggest loss is the farmer. And protecting each of their products from being fined with a "red card" depends largely on the farmer's awareness.

According to: Bao Ngoc - Cong Thuong Newspaper