Ministry hopes to export fresh durians to China within one year

BENTONG: The Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry expects its application to export fresh durians to China to be resolved in a year's time.
Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the ministry did not want the approval for the application to take too long as was in the case of seeking market access for jackfruit which took a staggering 12 years.
This is because Malaysian durians, especially the 'Musang King' type, was in great demand with the people of China based on overwhelming response to the recent Malaysian Durian Festival in Nanning early this month, he said.
"For the time being, we have approval to export semi-processed durians such as paste, flesh and durian-based products such as coffee, tea and mooncake but there were reservations on fresh durian by the authorities there," added Ahmad Shabery.
He was speaking at a media conference after attending the 2017 Malaysia International Durian Cultural Tourism Festival here today, which was also attended by Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, who is also Bentong MP.
He said among China's concerns on the export of fresh durians was the level of safety control as Malaysian durians dropped when ripe as compared to durians from other countries which were plucked.
"They are worried of the fruit being contaminated by pesticide after dropping to the ground ... but durians which ripe in this way are tastier and more aromatic as compared to those from other countries.
"There is a need to improve before access to the market is obtained ... we hope our application could be expedited with the assistance of our embassy there," added Ahmad Shabery.
He said durian farmers could play their role by using netting to prevent the durians from falling to the ground or tie them up.
Despite the difficulty and additional capital, durian orchard operators should look at the requirements as compliance to penetrate the international market, noted the minister.
"We should not look at the strict control procedures set by China as tedious as it would facilitate us to penetrate the market of other countries if the standard operating procedures have been met."
Ahmad Shabery said it was now the best time to plant durian as the value of the king of fruits was expected to increase while the tree takes five years to bear fruit.
— Bernama