A shipment of 195 tons of Thai durians, transported by the "TS Sishui" vessel, has recently completed customs clearance procedures and is being transported from Nansha Port to major fruit wholesale markets, according to the Nansha Customs under the Guangzhou Customs.
These durians, shipped from Laem Chabang Port in Thailand, arrived at Nansha Port after just four days, marking the first batch of Thai durians imported through Guangzhou's Nansha this year.
Durian, a tropical fruit beloved by Chinese consumers, is extensively grown in Southeast Asian countries. It is known as the "King of Fruits" for its rich nutrients and unique aroma. Durian importers are gearing up as the peak sales season approaches.
To facilitate efficient and convenient clearance of durians and other fruits, Nansha Customs is promoting the use of "smart certification." It can expedite document review and reduce document processing time by over 80 percent.
"Before the arrival of this batch of durians, we had communicated with enterprises to obtain arrival time information promptly, and guided them to adopt measures such as pre-declaration and paperless customs clearance to ensure timely inspection upon arrival," said Ma Tengfei, Deputy Chief of the Cold Chain Inspection Section of Nansha Customs.
Given the perishable nature of imported tropical fresh fruits, Nansha Customs, factoring into ASEAN countries' "Durian Season," closely coordinates with commercial departments, operating departments, and import and export enterprises to streamline the customs clearance procedure. It promotes "one-stop" quarantine and customs clearance and implements 24/7 appointment customs clearance, facilitating a smooth transition of port clearance operations.
"Our company mainly handles the import business of fresh products. Based on past experience, Thai durians start to flood the market in mid-April every year, followed by mangosteens, coconuts, and other fruits until the end of May," said Zeng Jie, General Manager of Shenzhen Jianchengye International Freight Forwarding Co., Ltd., which is responsible for handling this durian import.
With the increasing demand, quantity, and variety of imported fruits from Southeast Asia, the company's business volume is expected to continue to grow, with an initial estimate of importing 38,000 tons of fruits this year.
Nansha Customs continues to advance smart customs construction, collaborating with port operating units and leveraging 5G technology to automatically scan and identify container labels during the unloading process of cargo ships.
By automatically correlating container information with terminal operation system data and aligning with customs instructions, the system facilitates the automatic diversion of fresh fruits upon arrival at the port for inspection, clearance, and rapid distribution to various parts of China after clearance.
Editors | Monica Liu, Will, Lydia Liu, James
