The frequency of counterfeiting in the export of Vietnamese durian is high, with a full set of procedures able to be falsified for just 40,000 yuan!

On the morning of November 19, a meeting was held in Dak Lak province, Vietnam's main durian growing region, to summarize the 2025 durian season and deploy tasks for 2026. During the meeting, the local public security authorities reported on the falsification of export procedures by durian export service companies.

Dak Lak province's durian planting area is approximately 44,900 hectares, accounting for a quarter of Vietnam's total area, with an estimated 2025 production of 390,700 tons, an increase of 30,000 tons from 2024. The province has already been approved for 269 planting area codes (totaling 7,413 hectares) and 40 fresh fruit export packaging enterprises. Although Dak Lak province's fresh durians have been exported to multiple countries and regions, China remains its primary export market, with an estimated export value of over 3.2 billion USD for the first ten months of 2025.

Dang Thi Thuy, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dak Lak province, pointed out that the local durian industry still faces many challenges: small-scale and dispersed planting patterns dominate, the proportion of pure planting is low, the application of advanced planting technologies is insufficient, product quality is inconsistent, and multiple batches of goods have been returned by China due to excessive cadmium and alkaline yellow residues. There are also issues such as fraud in planting areas, insufficient supply chain transparency, loose value chain connections, and inadequate production infrastructure.

A representative from the Dak Lak Public Security Department pointed out that the number of existing planting area codes and packaging factory codes severely mismatches the actual area and production. Due to the scarcity of codes, some export companies purchase code qualifications at high prices, which not only increases costs but also breeds risks. Recently, the General Administration of Customs of China has discovered multiple violations, even suspending and canceling illegal codes. This not only causes economic losses to code-holding companies and exporters but also severely impacts the reputation of Vietnam's durian brand.

According to an investigation by the Dak Lak Public Security Department, export service companies in the northern port areas are packaging and selling complete export procedures, including planting area codes, packaging factory codes, and cadmium and alkaline yellow detection certificates, for prices ranging from 140 million to 200 million Vietnamese dong (approximately 38,000 to 54,000 Chinese yuan). There is evidence suggesting collusion between some testing agencies and export companies for profit.

In response to the challenges facing the durian industry, the People's Committee of Dak Lak province has requested the restructuring of the durian industry chain to promote sustainable development and strictly control the expansion of durian planting areas. The focus will be on strengthening quality and food safety supervision, conducting regular sampling and monitoring in packaging factories and planting areas, and strictly testing for cadmium and alkaline yellow residues. Efforts will be made to fully promote digital transformation and establish a full-chain traceability system from production, initial processing, refinement processing, to the consumer market.

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