Thailand implements strictly measures to control quality of durian

BANGKOK, April 25 (TNA) -- Thailand is beefing up quality control measures on durian export after the “King of Fruits” has become a hot item on China’s e-commerce platform Alibaba. In his visit to Thailand last week, Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma demonstrated the power of his Tmall online platform where 80,000 Thai durians were sold in only one minute. Following the trip during which Ma signed up for mega investment project in Thailand, Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry spokesman Sorawit Thanitoh said his ministry had made necessary steps to ensure quality of Thai durians. All standards must be met at all levels, he told reporters on Tuesday. From the orchards to packaging and distributing, regulations would be strictly enforced every step of the way, said Sorawit. A new ministry’s regulation on durian exporters had been effective to govern exporter registration and licensing, added the spokesman. Chinese consumers’ appetite for durian has also caused the fruit price to soar in domestic market. The Ministry says nearly 28 percent of durian, or over 112,000 tons has been marketed this season. (TNA)