Expanding Testing Capacity, Removing Export Bottlenecks
China remains Vietnam’s largest export market for agriculture, forestry, and fishery products, accounting for 21.9% of the sector’s total turnover in the first seven months of 2026 (according to a report by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment). Accordingly, export value to this market increased by 24.4% compared to the same period last year. Fruits and vegetables alone reached 4.83 billion USD, up 24.9%, with China accounting for as much as 55% market share. Amid this market’s continuous raising of requirements regarding phytosanitary measures, food safety, and traceability, the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) recognizing 18 additional Vietnamese testing laboratories is seen as an important step forward, helping to resolve one of the “bottlenecks” in export activities. According to the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, after GACC completed confirming the test report samples, the 18 testing laboratories officially went into operation starting July 31, raising the total number of laboratories recognized by the Chinese side from 32 to 50, an increase of nearly 60%. Among these, 12 are newly recognized laboratories and 6 have had their operational scope restored for Cadmium indicators. Currently, the whole country has 48 laboratories with sufficient capacity to analyze Cadmium and 39 laboratories to analyze Auramine O; these are two indicators strictly controlled by the Chinese side for many agricultural products, especially durian.
Notably, the network of testing laboratories is not only concentrated in major urban areas but has also expanded to many localities with key raw material regions such as Gia Lai and Lam Dong. This helps enterprises and cooperatives reduce the time and cost of transporting samples, shortening the testing process, especially during peak harvest seasons.
Speaking with reporters from the Industry and Trade Newspaper, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Hoang Hiep stated that the testing laboratory system currently mainly serves durian products, which is the product category with the strictest testing requirements when exported to China. According to the Deputy Minister, alongside the increase in recognized testing laboratories from about 30 to 50, the number of packaging facilities approved by the Chinese side has also increased from about 80 to 150 facilities compared to the same period last year.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Hoang Hiep.
“Through working with localities, we assess that with the current number of testing laboratories, testing capacity, and packaging facility system, Vietnam is fully capable of meeting the demand for durian exports to China, avoiding any congestion due to a lack of testing laboratories or packaging facilities,” Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep affirmed.
The Deputy Minister also noted that the current difficulty does not lie in testing capacity but rather in the harvesting characteristics of durian. This fruit typically ripens intensively according to specific periods and regions. To meet demand during the peak durian harvest season in the Central Highlands in August and September, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has directed the deployment of mobile testing laboratories to local areas while requesting units to operate 24/7 to shorten result turnaround times and ensure export progress. “I affirm that regarding the testing laboratory system alone, we currently have full capacity to meet the requirements serving exports,” Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep emphasized.
Expanding “Technical Infrastructure” to Capitalize on the Billion-People Market
The expansion of the testing laboratory system takes place against the backdrop of Vietnamese agricultural products still possessing significant growth headroom in China. According to the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, the two countries have signed multiple export protocols for products such as durian, bananas, jackfruit, mangosteen, sweet potatoes, coconuts, passion fruit, black jelly grass, and frozen durian. Simultaneously, both sides are continuing negotiations to open the market for longan, lychee, rambutan, mango, dragon fruit, and citrus fruit groups.
China is Vietnam’s largest durian export market, consuming over 95% of exported fresh durian volume. Source: Lao Dong Newspaper
In particular, China currently accounts for over 95% of Vietnam’s fresh durian volume and about 99% of its jackfruit export volume. However, alongside the massive market headroom are increasingly stringent requirements regarding quality, traceability, growing-area codes, packaging facility codes, and phytosanitary measures.
Previously, at the 1st Vietnam – China Agricultural Trade Connection Forum, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Manh, Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, argued that the fruit and vegetable industry needs to transition from output-led growth to growth based on quality, value addition, and sustainable development. Enterprises need to invest in deep processing, develop standard raw material regions, and complete traceability and logistics systems to enhance competitiveness.
From a business perspective, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung, Chairman and General Director of Vina T&T Group, suggested that alongside enhancing testing capacity, it is necessary to accelerate the progress of issuing growing-area codes and packaging facility codes—mandatory conditions for agricultural products to be officially exported to China. Additionally, enterprises petitioned for the establishment of a “green lane” mechanism for well-compliant units and the development of a shared digital database system to increase transparency and curb code fraud.
Regarding the progress of approving growing-area codes and packaging facility codes, speaking with reporters from the Industry and Trade Newspaper, Mr. Huynh Tan Dat, Director of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, stated that the Department is coordinating with relevant units to maintain regular technical exchanges with GACC while planning to send a working delegation to China to promote the recognition process for codes with completed dossiers. “The approval speed depends not only on the negotiation process but also heavily on the quality of local dossiers. The management system must ensure traceability down to each growing area and packaging facility, with clear disciplinary mechanisms for violations,” Mr. Huynh Tan Dat said.
Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, assessed that GACC’s recognition of 18 additional testing laboratories not only expands Vietnam’s testing capacity but also completes the “technical infrastructure” serving agricultural exports. When combined with the expansion of growing-area codes and packaging facilities alongside enhanced traceability quality, this will serve as an important foundation for Vietnamese agricultural products to more effectively capitalize on opportunities in the Chinese market while meeting trade trends that increasingly prioritize quality, food safety, and sustainable development.
Source: Cong Thuong Newspaper
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