Cameras will be installed at Da Lat farm produce market to supervise the origin and quality of the products after thousands of tonnes of Chinese potatoes were recently detected there.

On August 21, police in Da Lat found Chinese potatoes repackaged as Da Lat farm produce at the market. 

Thousands of tonnes of Chinese potatoes found to be repackaged as Da Lat farm produce

The stall owner said that she used a machine to wash Chinese potatoes. Each time, the machine can serve around 100 kilos of potatoes for some 3-4 minutes, depending on potato size.

After being washed, potatoes will be covered with earth from the Central Highlands region and then packaged into bags and labelled with stamps issued by the market management board.  

Chinese potatoes are often bought at VND7,000 per kilo, but when being disguised as the Da Lat produce, they are priced at up to VND20,000 per kilo in the market.

According to Vo Ngoc Hiep, Director of Lam Dong Province’s Department of Industry and Trade, some stalls in Da Lat imported up to 30-60 tonnes of Chinese potatoes within two days and then turned them into Da Lat-branded produce to sell to wholesale markets in HCM City.

Hiep added that local authorities will focus on raising people’s awareness about the consequences of selling fake products which would damage the prestige of Da Lat.

The department will co-operate with localities to take farm produce samples to check the content of pesticide residue.

Nguyen Van Son, vice chairman of Da Lat City People’s Committee, said that four cameras will be installed at Da Lat farm produce market to help identify fake products.

Soil is banned from being transported into the market for any purpose and traders at the market are only allowed to sell products of Da Lat origin.

Local authorities estimated that around 578 tonnes of Chinese potatoes worth a total VND2.2 billion (USD91,000) have been imported into Da Lat for sales to date.