Workers are packing dragon fruit for export. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The traceability of goods, including transparency on origin, is key to building consumer trust and expanding Vietnamese goods in foreign markets, said Đinh Hoàng Linh, Deputy General Director of the General Department of Standards, Metrology and Quality.

Linh made these comments during a recent seminar held by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Hà Nội.

Improving traceability will make consumers feel safe using products with clear origin and guaranteed quality. It will also prevent commercial fraud and improve the brand value of Vietnamese products, according to Linh.

He said that the traceability of products and goods for export, especially agricultural products, helps stakeholders to trace information about products quickly and accurately. International markets have very strict traceability rules for goods in both production and trade, criteria that Vietnamese businesses must meet to trade abroad. 

Nguyễn Vũ Trung, an expert from the Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Management Department, acknowledged that the application of a traceability system will increase costs for businesses, but the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

A traceability system helps manage product quality, from farming and processing to preservation, transportation, delivery and distribution. It makes it easier to detect if something goes wrong and allows for precise, rather than blanket, product recalls. 

However, Nguyễn Thị Thành Thực, a member of the Executive Committee of the Việt Nam Digital Agriculture Association, said improving traceability faces some difficulties.

State management agencies do not yet have strict sanctions that deal with violations. The management of goods circulation is not strict enough, allowing violations in the planting area codes and packaging facility codes, particularly in agricultural products. Among officials, awareness and understanding of traceability are low, Thực said. 

In response, the Plant Protection Department will build a team of lecturers to educate on planting area codes and packing facilities. The programme will focus on building codes for planting areas, said Nguyễn Quang Hiếu, Head of the International Cooperation Office of the Department of Plant Protection.

The agency will work with importers to deal with violations, restore suspended codes and expand requirements for planting areas and packing facilities.

The department will also focus on organising training courses for local technical staff, businesses and people, applying information technology to management, Hiếu said. — VNS