Due to excessive chemical residues, Japan destroyed tons of Vietnamese durian and chillies that surpassed Japanese standards.
Japan has its own standard when it comes to the allowable level of chemical residues in fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, Vietnamese durian and chillies didn’t meet that standard, making their way down the drain.
In October, Japan destroyed more than five tons of durian and chillies from Vietnam because of higher amounts of pesticide residues. The 1.4 tonnes of durian contained 0.03 parts per million (ppm) of procymidone, which is 0.02 higher than the Japanese standard.
The four tonnes of chillies, on the other hand, contained 0.03 ppm of hexaconazole and 0.2 ppm of tricyclazole, which must be only 0.01 ppm for both. Japanese quarantine authorities have no choice but to destroy the batches of exported fruits.
According to Do Van Dung, several nations use the three pesticides and their harmful effects were only researched on animals. In that case, it’s normal to find pesticides on produce exported to Japan. Although it went beyond the Japanese standard, it doesn’t mean that it will harm Vietnamese consumers. Dung is the head faculty of community health, at Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy,
Australia, for instance, allows a procymidone level in garlic up to 5mg/kg compared to Japan’s 0.1mg/kg. Likewise, several other developed countries fail to meet Japanese standards.
Japan has been Vietnam’s third-largest export market, in terms of forestry, seafood, and agriculture in the first 10 months, which accounts for 7.4% of the total export.
Vietnam Trade Counselor in Japan, Ta Duc Minh conveyed the information to Vietnamese authorities regarding the situation of the exported fruits that violated Japan’s regulations. He suggested that Vietnamese businessmen must fully understand the standards of the importing countries to prevent a bad impression of Vietnamese brands and enterprises.
In the first 10 months of this year, Vietnam-exported durian entered the Japanese market valued at $1.3 million. It dropped by 12.3% over the same period last year. Frozen durian, on the other hand, increased by 8.3%, reaching almost $1.2 million over the same period in 2022.
Vietnamese durian is the fruit with a record-high export turnover in the country for this year. Vietnam became the leading fruit and vegetable group exporter accounting for 51%. Of the total durian export yield, 94% comprises fresh goods exported to eight countries worldwide. The remaining 6% are frozen and dried goods.
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