Sprouts stamped with origin traceability. The national portal for origin tracing was expected to be completed by the end of this year. — VNA/VNS Photo Thuỳ Dung

HÀ NỘI — It is pressing for Việt Nam to complete a national system for origin tracing as the market has increasing demand for transparency of product quality and origin tracing was becoming mandatory for products to enter foreign markets, according to Nguyễn Hoàng Linh, Deputy Director of the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality.

Linh said that origin tracing remained scattered due to the lack of connection and sharing among sectors and localities.

The portal for origin tracing was expected to be completed by the end of this year, Linh said, adding that it would be an effective tool to promote traceability not only in Việt Nam but also with other countries.

Linh said that origin tracing also contributed to promoting the digital transformation at enterprises, optimising operational efficiency, improving productivity, product quality and enhancing brand and building trust with consumers as well as creating a transparent business environment.

The system would also provide accurate data for market analysis and building plans, strategies and policies to orient production towards international standards.

In fact, origin tracing was not a new thing, he said. Previously, origin tracing aimed to serve enterprises to control production quality but now it became a requirement of consumers and markets.

Bùi Bá Chính, Deputy Director of the National Numbering and Barcodes Centre under the Ministry of Science and Technology, said that a portal to manage origin traceability was becoming a pressing requirement.

The portal would be connected with other domestic and international origin tracing systems to manage, update and share databases about products. It was also the place to receive complaints and recommendations.

The national traceability portal would also rely on data, statistics and AI technology to provide analysis.

Planting area codes: an asset

Focusing on building many new planting area codes and improving the quality of existing ones was an important direction to open up export opportunities.

Planting area codes should be considered an asset of owners, requiring effort to increase quality and protect the codes.

Statistics showed that there were about 6,500 planting areas and 1,600 packaging facilities in 33 provinces and cities that granted codes for exports.

To date, 710 codes were revoked due to failure in meeting the quality requirements of importing markets.

Đặng Phúc Nguyên, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit Association, said that it was very difficult to obtain a planting area code and it would cause damage if the code was revoked. He added that it took a lot of time to apply for the code, once revoked, again, not to mention the costs and effort, which was around 2-3 times longer than applying for a new one.

Currently, many countries have increased inspection and supervision of quality at planting area codes.

Localities must attach special attention to supervising quality at existing planting areas which had been granted codes to avoid revocation, he said.

Any fraud in using codes must strictly be handled to protect brands, he added. Thailand, for example, had regulations with very strict punishments for fraud.

Nguyễn Đình Tùng, general director of Vina T&T, said that owners of planting areas should be active in improving quality and applying for codes to get ready for exports.

According to Hoàng Trung, Director of Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the codes of planting areas and packaging facilities were compulsory for sustainable exports.

He urged localities, enterprises and owners to protect the codes and ensure production to meet requirements of markets. — VNS