KUALA LUMPUR: Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine (CAIQ) has recently launched Malaysian Durian Certification Implementation Rules (MDCI), the Malaysian durian standard and certification.
The standard strives to safeguard the interests of durian growers, operators, and consumers while fostering a fair and trustworthy environment for consumption.
It complies with the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Certification and Accreditation, according to the World Traceable High-quality Agricultural Product: Malaysia Durian (T/CASME 13— 2021) group standard.
CAIQTEST Malaysia Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Dr Ch'ng Soo Ee said that with the growth of domestic durian demand and improved living standards, the public had recognized the quality of Malaysian durians.
"Malaysian durian has significant advantages compared to other variants in terms of colour, meat quality and taste.
"However, the price of Malaysian durian is also significantly higher than other durian varieties due to the higher transportation costs.
"Given the strong demand for Malaysian durian and its higher pricing, some unscrupulous importers confuse the durian origin and variety to obtain high profits," he said in a statement today.
CAIQ is a national public institution established to research and develop science and technology to be applied in inspection and quarantine.
According to Dr Ch'ng, the standard implemented will help to fight against unscrupulous importers' practices of confusing durian origin as they would require to obtain the Malaysian Durian Certification to authenticate its origin.
The MDCI formulated by CAIQ have completed the filing with the National Certification and Accreditation Administration (CNCA) and will accept applications for certification from Chinese importers of Malaysian durians and Malaysian exporters from now on.
The demand for durian, known as the King of Fruits, has been gaining traction in China over the last few years, mainly for its authentic, pungent smell, delicious pulp and rich nutrition.
This has made an effective implementation of the certification even more important.
Therefore, China and Malaysia have jointly formulated the original domestic standard with T/CASME 13-2021.
The review is conducted by experts from different institutes, including the China Academy Of Science Institute of Agricultural Quality Standards and Testing Technology (CAS), the Development Research Center of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), China Customs (GACC) Science and Technology Research Centre together with other institutions.
These reviews provide the technical support and guarantee for the effective implementation of the Malaysian durian certification.
The standard will help to encourage the Malaysian fruit farmers to increase their investment, improve and develop new durian varieties and improve the quality of durians targeted for export to China.
"This is a gamechanger as this is among the first standard implemented in line with the National Standardization Development Outline to actively promote the docking and cooperation in standards with countries jointly building the Belt and Road," Dr Ch'ng added.