On June 10, the Vietnam Pioneer Newspaper Organization held a symposium on sustainable development of the durian industry, focusing on food safety issues related to durians.
Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association Secretary General Dang Phuc Nguyen stated that Vietnam's durian export value reached $2.1 billion and $3.2 billion in 2023 and 2024, respectively, with exports in the first four months of 2025 only reaching $183 million, a year-on-year decline of 60.9%. Exports to the Chinese market alone amounted to $105.7 million, a drop of 75.5%.
According to professional institutions, the primary cause of cadmium contamination is the accumulation of heavy metals in soil, mainly resulting from long-term excessive use of fertilizers, especially phosphate fertilizers (such as diammonium phosphate). Nguyen believes that issues of cadmium exceeding standards and alkaline yellow in durians expose inherent flaws in the overheated durian industry, including lack of comprehensive management of the supply chain from agricultural inputs to orchard cultivation and post-harvest processing, large-scale expansion, yield pursuit, and lax management of planting areas and packaging plants.
Nguyen Quang Hieu, Deputy Director of the Plant Protection Department of Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, stated that when China first issued a warning in March 2024, their investigation discovered many areas with high cadmium residue. The department recently revealed the main causes of soil cadmium contamination, including natural factors like soil issues and inability to let farmland rest, and subjective reasons such as farmers' excessive fertilizer use in specific areas.
Regarding the alkaline yellow issue, Hieu explained that due to the discovery of alkaline yellow in Thai durians, China strengthened controls and applied similar measures to Vietnam to prevent risks from various durian importing countries.
Phan Van Duy, Deputy Director of the Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development Bureau, reported that 34 laboratories have obtained cadmium detection certification, with 24 recognized by China, and 19 institutions have alkaline yellow detection certification, with 15 recognized by China. However, due to differences between Vietnam's test results and those upon cargo arrival, four laboratories