The issuance of planting area codes needs speeding up: Vietnam
08 December 2021, VN: Getting planting area codes and packing facility codes is a prerequisite for fruit exporters if they want to export a large volume of fruits.
Le Van Thiet, Deputy Director of the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that if someone wanted to export agricultural products to demanding markets such as the US, Japan, Korea, New Zealand or China, planting area code and packing facility code are prerequisites.
Now, importers do not require a producer to show certificates of VietGAP or GlobalGAP but require planting area codes and packing facility codes which prove the exported products are without residues of pesticides that are not allowed to use or used excessive than permitted.
Currently, 63 provinces and cities are applying two standards 774 and 775 to control the codes of planting and packing areas
Particularly for the Chinese market, there are ten types of fruit that are officially exported to China, Thiet said, adding that his department would soon continue to negotiate to export sweet potatoes, pomelo and durian.
Thiet said that without the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese side would have arrived in Vietnam to inspect the sweet potato and durian growing areas. It is expected that by the end of 2021 or early 2022, China will apply the online inspection for the above agricultural products. In addition, next year, China may consider importing Vietnamese passion fruit.
Regarding available resources, problems of capital, infrastructure and legality are still big burdens for businesses, Tran said.
“To solve these problems, it is necessary to solve the problem of traceability and planting area codes,” she said
Drastic actions
Le Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that to achieve good export, it was necessary to produce to meet importing countries requirements.
Localities supported work relating to product traceability would help build their material areas, identifying their strengths to attract businesses to invest and connect production with consumption.
Therefore, local professionals and management agencies need to accompany and stand closely with businesses and farmers in building traceability and quality certification, Tung said.
