The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment's official introduction of the Agricultural Product Traceability System, built on a common data platform, serving management, production and consumption according to the chain, into operation from July 1, after 6 months of piloting traceability for durian fruit, is of great significance.
First of all, it shows that the agricultural sector is gradually shifting from management by records and papers to management by digital data, creating a foundation to improve the value and competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural products.
For a long time, when mentioning the competitiveness of agricultural products, we often talk about yield, quality or cost.
These factors are still very important, but in the context of global trade increasingly setting strict standards, another factor that has also become an almost mandatory condition is transparency.
Today's consumers not only want to know whether the product is delicious or clean. They also want to know where the product is grown, by whom, according to what process, whether it meets safety standards or not.
Large import markets are also increasingly requiring businesses to prove the entire journey of products from raw material areas to the dining table. Therefore, traceability is the "passport" of agricultural products in the process of participating in the international market.
The noteworthy point of the new system is that it not only serves to look up information for consumers but also forms a common data platform, connecting from growing areas, production facilities, packaging, processing to distribution and export.
If operated effectively, this system will bring benefits to many entities at the same time. Consumers have more basis to choose products. Serious businesses are affirmed to have prestige. Management agencies have tools to monitor, warn and handle faster when quality or food safety problems arise.
More importantly, transparent data also contributes to protecting Vietnamese agricultural product brands from the situation of counterfeit goods, fake goods or impersonation of origin, which still occurs in many specialty items.
However, technology is only the foundation, and the decisive factor is still the quality of input data. A modern system will also not be effective if input information is inaccurate or entered in a coping manner.
Transparency is not created from software but is created from the awareness of producers, the responsibility of businesses and the regular inspection of management agencies.
Vietnamese agricultural products for many years have shifted from "full eating" to "delicious eating", from exporting quantity to exporting value. And now it is exporting by data reputation, with a traceability system for agricultural products.
When each product has a reliable "digital history", the value of Vietnamese agricultural products will not only come from quality but also from transparency that consumers and the international market can verify.
This is the sustainable foundation to elevate the Vietnamese agricultural product brand in the global supply chain.
