Removing bottlenecks to unlock exports

At the Government’s regular press conference for August 2026 on September 3, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Dang Ngoc Diep provided an update on agricultural exports and measures to address difficulties facing the durian sector.

According to Deputy Minister Dang Ngoc Diep, Viet Nam’s agricultural exports in the first seven months of the year were estimated at approximately USD 49.3 billion. Durian, in particular, is a high-value commodity, with a cultivation area of around 200,000 hectares and an estimated output of approximately 2.08 million tonnes.

Durian export turnover has risen sharply in recent years. In 2021, exports of the fruit were valued at approximately USD 177 million, compared with USD 3.85 billion in 2025.

Durian is now one of the key products of Viet Nam’s crop production sector, accounting for around 40% of the sector’s export output. In the first eight months of 2026, durian export turnover was estimated at approximately USD 1.95 billion. China alone accounted for around USD 1.85 billion, or approximately 95% of the market share.

In response to emerging difficulties in exports, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has implemented a range of measures to resolve obstacles facing businesses and localities.

The Ministry has dispatched working delegations to meet directly with local authorities in major durian-growing areas across the Central Highlands, southeastern and southwestern regions to address difficulties and bottlenecks.

Since July 1, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has implemented a traceability system through its digital transformation platform. Domestic and international customers can access data relating to the cultivation, care, fertilization and production processes of agricultural products, including durian.

The Ministry has also focused on resolving difficulties related to the issuance of growing-area codes. It submitted Resolution No.36 to the Government on addressing difficulties and obstacles in issuing growing-area codes for crops.

At the same time, the issuance of growing-area codes and packing-facility codes has been significantly decentralized and delegated to local authorities. According to Deputy Minister Dang Ngoc Diep, localities have been assigned responsibility for issuing growing-area and packing-facility codes for durian, while the issuance of codes for intercropped cultivation areas is also being carried out under this decentralized mechanism.

“Another notable outcome came after the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment’s leadership delegation visited China on August 14. The General Administration of Customs of China subsequently issued an additional 567 growing-area codes for Vietnamese durian, bringing the total to more than 1,800. Viet Nam currently has around 1,599 durian growing-area codes and 281 packing facilities,” Deputy Minister Dang Ngoc Diep said.

According to Deputy Minister Dang Ngoc Diep, the Ministry is completing the remaining procedures to boost durian exports in the final months of the year, with the target of ensuring annual export turnover reaches at least the 2025 level of USD 3.85 billion, and potentially around USD 4 billion.

Diversifying markets and improving quality

According to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment, while the sector has recorded rapid growth, production areas in some localities have not yet been closely linked to organized value chains. The expansion of cultivation areas has also been somewhat spontaneous and has not been fully aligned with land and water-resource conditions.

To enhance competitiveness, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has identified five key groups of measures.

First, trade promotion and export-market diversification will be strengthened, while negotiations to expand market access and increase market share in potential markets such as India, Australia and New Zealand will continue. At the same time, the Ministry will promote exports of frozen durian, processed products and other products tailored to market demand.

In July, India agreed to allow imports of Vietnamese durian. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is now carrying out the necessary work to expand access to this market.

Second, production will be reorganized and sustainable raw-material areas developed. The Ministry will review production-area planning to ensure compatibility with land, water-resource and climate conditions, while developing raw-material infrastructure linked to primary processing, processing, storage, consumption, and exports.

Connecting farmers, cooperatives and businesses, while encouraging companies to reinvest in raw-material areas, has also been identified as a pathway toward gradually building the Vietnamese durian brand.

According to Deputy Minister Dang Ngoc Diep, post-harvest losses and depreciation throughout the process from production to circulation remain high because existing primary-processing facilities are not yet sufficient. The Ministry therefore encourages businesses to invest in additional primary-processing, processing, and storage facilities to improve product quality.

Third, quality, food safety and traceability standards will continue to be standardized, while capacity for research, application and transfer of science and technology, as well as digital transformation, will be strengthened. The traceability system launched on July 1 enables domestic and international customers to look up information on production, irrigation, fertilizer use, harvesting and product packaging.

Fourth, infrastructure for storage, processing and logistics will be developed, with investment encouraged in cold storage, primary-processing, storage and processing facilities in concentrated production areas. At the same time, processing, product diversification and transport methods will be promoted, alongside the application of technology to reduce costs and improve quality. Irrigation and transport infrastructure serving raw-material areas will also be upgraded.

Fifth, the laboratory network will be expanded and its capacity strengthened. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will continue to promote social investment and open access to qualified laboratories, prioritize equipment and enhance testing capacity for cadmium, Auramine O and other criteria required by importing markets.

According to Deputy Minister Dang Ngoc Diep, Viet Nam has negotiated with China, which has agreed to recognize 52 product-testing laboratories as meeting the requirements and conditions for exports. In the coming period, the Ministry will continue working with relevant authorities to develop additional testing laboratories to meet requirements for product-quality control before export.