Nearly one thousand of trucks carrying farm produce have been stuck at the border in Lang Son Province waiting to deliver exports to China daily due to the low capacity of customs clearance.
Watermelon trucks pile up at Tan Thanh border
The situation has repeatedly happened at Tan Thanh border gate for years, but the situation seems to be more serious this year, as this is a peak watermelon harvesting season in southern Vietnam.
Hundreds of new trucks arrive at the border daily, adding to the overcrowding and forcing them to line up for dozens of kilometres starting from the Cao Loc intersection and ending at the Tan Thanh border.
According to the Tan Thanh Customs Branch, around 700 trucks carrying farm produce, mainly water-melons, travel from southern Vietnam to the border daily bringing goods to China. However, the border can only provide clearance services to only between 250 and 300 trucks per day and a farm produce warehouses in China’s Guangxi Province can house only 300 vehicles with a maximum of 900 tonnes.
During normal days each vehicle has to wait for around three days to get through customs, but now the wait time has increased.
“I’ve waited here for three days, but owner of my load insisted that I wait until I can get through. Returning for domestic sales is considered a last resort,” said a truck driver.
Drivers are not paid for their expenses during their waiting time.
Long-term strategy for watermelon exports needed
Chu Ba Toan, deputy head of the Tan Thanh Customs Branch, said, “The back load has has caused big losses for farmers. The situation is expected to improve next year when China builds two more warehouses with a combined capacity of housing 700 trucks per day.”
While watermelon prices in Lang Son Province currently fluctuate between VND8,000 and VND10,000 (USD0.37-USD0.47) per kilo, they are now being sold for around VND20,000 per kilo in Hanoi’s retail markets.