Dozens of tonnes of watermelons are in risk of spoiling as trucks are stuck at the border checkpoints in Lang Son Province due to the low capacity of customs clearance in both Vietnam and China.
Trucks waiting by Tan Thanh Border Gate
Phung Quang Hoi, head of the Tan Thanh Border Gate Custom Department, said about 500 to 800 trucks are waiting to cross the border each day, but only 200 can cross, leaving at least 8,000 tonnes of goods are stuck at the gate each day.
Custom officials and border guards in Vietnam and China opened smaller gates and increased their working hours to clear the lines as quickly as possible.
Trucks waiting outside
"We can only give clearance to a maximum of 350 trucks a day because the parking lots in China is small and can't receive trucks quicker," Hoi said.
"It takes two hours to unload a watermelon truck," he said, "Moreover, many goods are only packaged when they came into China, which affect the clearance time."
He went on to say that 95 percent of trucks that cross Tan Thanh Border Gate are carrying agriculture products due to current high demand from China and bountiful crops in the central and highland regions.
Lines of trucks wait to cross the border
Nguyen Huu Tuan, a driver from Quang Ngai Province, said he had waited and lived near the gate for five days with 20 tonnes of watermelons.
"Because of hot weather, watermelons in many trucks are spoiled, but we don't know any way else to avoid this, but open the cover up a bit so the wind can come in. I don't know how many good watermelons will remain by the time I can reach China," he said.
Thrown away spoiled watermelons
Driver Nguyen Huu Kien, who returned from China, said it took him a full week to complete the task. Many watermelons were rejected because of imperfections and a good amount of watermelons were spoiled during the wait.
Rejected watermelons are sold at cheap prices
Police and border guards in Lang Son are also trying to regulate the traffic lines and prevent theft, with agricultural products given priority.
