Durian Green Channel: Integrated Logistics Becomes Vietnam’s New Expor

By Tuan Minh

From container congestion and testing risks to mounting pressure over GACC codes, Vietnam’s durian industry is entering a new phase. Competitiveness is no longer measured only by output, but by cold-chain control, document-data accuracy and end-to-end logistics accountability.

Growth Comes With New Pressure

Phytosanitary protocols for fresh and frozen durian have opened a major opportunity for Vietnamese agricultural exports to China. In 2024, durian exports exceeded USD 3.3 billion, accounting for nearly half of Vietnam’s total fruit and vegetable export value. China alone contributed around USD 3.2 billion, equivalent to 91% of the sector’s turnover.

Yet this market concentration has made the export chain highly vulnerable. When GACC suspended several growing areas and packing facilities over excessive cadmium residues, or when laboratories testing cadmium and Auramine O temporarily halted operations, cargo flows were immediately disrupted. The congestion of nearly 2,000 durian containers at warehouses, on transport routes and around border-gate areas sent a clear message: official export is no longer simply about moving goods to the border; it is about managing risk from the source.

For a fruit with a short physiological ripening cycle, every hour of delay can become a direct cost. Temperature deviation, power interruption in reefer containers, delayed cross-border transfer or inconsistent documents can all weaken product quality, invite price pressure, prolong inspection or even lead to cargo rejection.

From Fragmented Services to One Accountable Chain

For many exporters, the biggest bottleneck is not production capacity but the way logistics is organized. Cargo owners often hire reefer trucks, customs agents, cross-border transfer brokers and documentation support from separate parties. Each may complete its own task, but when an incident occurs, responsibility becomes fragmented.

In the durian cold chain, such fragmentation is especially risky. Fresh durian requires temperature control at 13-15°C with appropriate ventilation, while frozen goods must maintain a core temperature of -18°C or below. If a reefer unit loses power, if a truck waits too long at a staging yard, or if document data fails to match packaging labels and CIFER information, the shipment can be pushed into stricter inspection.

From the service-provider perspective, U&I Logistics sees the integrated model as a necessary solution. Instead of splitting the service among multiple contractors, the entire journey - from packing facility, transfer transport and temperature monitoring to documentation, customs clearance and border transfer - should be placed under one accountable focal point. When temperature data and document data are managed on a single platform, cargo owners can detect risks earlier and act before losses occur.

“The core weakness is not that enterprises lack knowledge of procedures, but that they purchase logistics services in a fragmented way. When reefer trucks, customs agents and cross-border transfer brokers are hired from separate points of contact, the cargo owner becomes the only party bearing financial risk if the supply chain fails. A single accountable focal point is the key to protecting shipment value at the border gate.” - Mr. Tran Huy Tuan, Head Of Market Development, U&I Logistics

The Green Channel Sets a New Standard

The emergence of the Green Channel process for durian shows a shift in management thinking: from “border-gate control” to “control from the beginning of the chain.” The process covers soil testing at growing areas, cultivation, harvesting, traceability tagging, plant quarantine and the issuance of certificates of origin in the locality where orchards are located.

The first durian shipment under the Green Channel cleared customs at Huu Nghi Border Gate on April 10, 2026, reducing the time from harvest to cross-border trucking to around six days, compared with eight to eleven days under the traditional approach. This is not only a gain in speed, but also an improvement in supply-chain data transparency.

As the Green Channel expands to other agricultural products, the advantage will belong to companies that can control both physical operations and data flows. In a market where import standards are tightening, integrated logistics is no longer a back-end support service; it is becoming a direct competitive capability for Vietnamese agricultural exports.

The durian story is therefore more than the story of a fast-growing commodity. It signals a new phase in which Vietnamese agricultural exports must compete through standards, data and chain organization. Those who control the cold chain, documentation and operational accountability will have a stronger chance of preserving the value of Vietnamese produce in the seasons ahead.