Vietnam durian planting area code creates shared ownership issues

Vietnam requires a planting‑area code for high‑value crops such as durian to qualify for official export. The code must cover at least 10 ha, forcing many smallholders to be grouped together under a single code. This has led to a “shared ownership” situation where multiple farms share one code, making supervision difficult and increasing the risk of fraud.

Chi Cục trưởng Phạm Thị Minh Hiếu of the Cần Thơ Plant Protection Department explained that the minimum‑area rule was intended to ensure traceability, but the fragmented nature of farms in the Mekong Delta means that “many households have to be combined into one code, creating management challenges and the potential for misuse.” The Durian Association of Đồng Tháp, led by Võ Tấn Lợi, warned that the practice can result in “cha chung không ai khóc” – a shared asset that no one can fully control – and may lead to mixing of produce from unregistered plots with certified batches.

The government plans to enforce the rule by the 31 July 2026 deadline, with periodic inspections and the possibility of suspending or revoking codes if violations are found.