China Again Reports Excessive Cadmium in Vietnamese Durians

On June 11, the Department of Animal and Plant Quarantine of the General Administration of Customs of China issued a notice regarding approximately 77 shipments of Vietnamese durians found to exceed the stipulated food safety limit for the heavy metal cadmium. These shipments reportedly involved 33 packaging plants and 40 orchards.

To protect consumers while minimizing the impact on the durian trade, China has decided to suspend durian imports from 15 packaging plants and 18 orchards starting from June 12, in addition to those enterprises previously suspended from exporting to China.

Vietnamese authorities stated that the detection of excessive cadmium occurred after China intensified its inspections of imported goods. The GACC has asked Vietnam to conduct investigations to identify the underlying causes and urged the relevant packaging plants and orchards to implement measures to prevent similar issues from recurring.

It is noteworthy that Vietnam has received notifications from the Chinese side multiple times for failing to meet specified food safety standards. Just three months ago, the GACC issued a warning about excessive cadmium levels in approximately 30 shipments of durians imported from Vietnam. In May, the Plant Protection Department of Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development responded by stating that they had not found any samples with cadmium levels exceeding the thresholds set by China. Following the latest notification from China, prices of Vietnamese durians have also been negatively affected.

China’s strengthening of its inspections of durian imports has also impacted customs clearance efficiency, resulting in congestion at multiple border crossings between Vietnam and China.

Image: iStock

This article was translated from Chinese. Read the original article.