HCMC – The first shipment of fresh durian under the “green lane” mechanism was cleared for export to China on April 10 at the Huu Nghi International Border Gate in the northern province of Lang Son.
The model, built on a fully digital traceability system for agricultural products, has reduced the time from harvest to customs clearance to six days, compared to eight to 11 days under conventional procedures.
A key feature of the process is that quality control is conducted at the source. Instead of inspections at the border gate, all stages – from soil sampling at orchards and fresh fruit testing to plant quarantine and the issuance of certificates of origin (C/O) – are completed in the growing areas.
Notably, each of the 14,000 durians in the shipment from the central province of Lam Dong is affixed with a QR code for electronic verification, functioning as a “digital ID” issued by the Ministry of Public Security. The encrypted code is linked to specific data for each fruit, enabling full traceability from cultivation and harvesting to packaging.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, direct monitoring at pilot orchards ensures strict compliance and strengthens the credibility of Vietnamese farm produce. The success of the pilot “green lane” model for durian is expected to pave the way for wider adoption across other agricultural, forestry and fishery products.
