Growers and manufacturers demand action from the government to address qualification problems.
PUBLISHED: 8 Apr 2025 at 17: 33
On Tuesday, durian farmers and exporters from Chanthaburi and Trat regions ‘ eastern fruit regions pleaded with the government to address problems brought on by China’s rejection of the results of the Thai durian trade experiment.
After China’s General Administration of Customs ( GACC ) suspended the certification of two Thai labs that had previously confirmed that Thai durian had no trace of Basic Yellow 2 ( BY2 ) dye, about 1, 000 durian farmers and exporters gathered on Tuesday in Chanthaburi.
Exporters are now required to submit facility reports that just show labs that have been GACC-approved and have cadmium levels below 0. 0 micrograms and no visible BY2.
Nevertheless, Chinese customs officials conducting border inspections of the fruit discovered BY2 pollution, which sparked concerns and suspicions of unlawful use of the substance or possible use of contaminated products in the Thai durian supply chain.
Local exporters are concerned about a lack of certified labs, which may cause China to reject edible crops and cause further delays in exports.
They furthermore urged the government to address different pressing export issues, such as the importation of edible that is not ripe in the area and edible grown in neighboring nations that are smuggled in and falsely identified as Thailand-grown.
They claimed that these problems could undermine Thai durian’s notoriety and credibility on the market.
Sanchai Kosanwatana, a specialist in citrus farming, claimed the Chanthaburi collecting was the largest in recent memory because these issues have persisted in the citrus export chain and remained unsettled.
According to Ekaphap Phonsue, official for the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, reports that no laboratories in Thailand are left to check durian before exporting because of China’s punishments are inaccurate.
Four labs are still open, and five more are awaiting GACC’s acceptance.  ,
He claimed that Thailand has also requested that China speed up the edible processing process in Thailand but has not yet heard back.