NANNING: Top Fruits Sdn Bhd (Top Fruits) is still waiting for Chinese authorities to conduct an audit of its packaging house in Johor for it to boost the export of frozen durians to China.

Executive director Dr Tan Sue Yee said demand in China was tremendous but Top Fruits was unable to send its durian products to the 1.4 billion market as only one packaging house in Malaysia had the certification from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) of China.

The certified packaging house was run by the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (Fama) in Batu Kurau, Perak, he told Malaysian journalists at the 8th China-Asean Expo (CAEXPO 2011) here.

Fama had brought in 300kg of frozen durian to promote Malaysia’s King of Fruits.

He said the company had a large plantation in Batu Pahat, Johor, and had been exporting its frozen D24 and Musang King durian products to Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Australia out of its packaging house.

“So far, Top Fruits had only been able to send three shipments to Shanghai and Beijing totaling 10 tonnes, since the Chinese government allowed the importation of frozen durian from Malaysia in May.

“We’re waiting for the Chinese authorities to come and audit our packaging house soon, so that we can increase the volume.

“Our volume now is small.

“We have demand and enough supply but the problem is the capacity of the Batu Kurau packaging house.

“Our clients have requested five containers but we’re unable to deliver,” he added.

At the six-day CAEXPO 2011 that began on Friday, Top Fruits was among 146 exhibitors at the Malaysia Pavilion hosted by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade).

On the eve of the event, dubbed one of the largest exhibitions in China, the company signed distributorship agreements with Shanghai Qigyan Economy and Racines World Co Ltd.

The signing was witnessed by International Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.