According to Circular No. 31/2026/TT-BCT of the Ministry of Industry and Trade: Regulations on tracing the origin of products and goods under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, high-risk products and goods managed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade are required to carry out traceability. Traders must register an account, receive identification codes and authenticate product information on the VeriGoods system.
According to the implementation roadmap, from July 1, 2026, traders will register accounts, receive identification codes and authenticate product information on the system. From January 1, 2027, traceability must be fully implemented before products and goods subject to application are put into circulation on the market. For traders newly established or starting production and business activities after January 1, 2027, regulations on traceability must be implemented immediately from the start of operation.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thuong Lang - National Economics University - assessed that for market management activities, this is a necessary change in the context of increasingly complex supply chains. A product reaching consumers can go through many stages from production, import, distribution to retail. If data is broken in one link, determining the origin and responsibility when violations occur will be difficult.
“Standardizing traceability data can help management agencies shorten the verification time when detecting goods with signs of violations. Instead of only checking products at the time of circulation, management agencies have more data to track the stages in the supply chain. This is especially meaningful in controlling counterfeit goods, goods of unknown origin and goods that do not guarantee quality. When data is digitized and can be compared, detecting abnormalities in the supply chain will have more basis,” Mr. Lang analyzed.
According to experts, the impact of the new regulation is not only that businesses must "register an additional account" or "put an additional QR code on the product". In essence, this is a requirement for businesses to upgrade data management capabilities throughout the supply chain. To trace the origin, businesses must know when the product is produced, from which source of raw materials, through which stages and distributed to where. Data between departments, suppliers and distribution units must also be consistent.
This will be a bigger challenge for small businesses, especially those that do not have a systematic data management system. Technology investment costs may not be the only obstacle. The biggest difficulty is changing internal procedures, assigning responsibility for updating data and maintaining the accuracy of information. However, if viewed in the long term, this may also become a driving force for businesses to professionalize management. When product data is standardized, businesses can not only serve management agencies but also use data to control inventory, manage quality, detect abnormalities in the supply chain and improve their ability to meet the requirements of export markets," Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thuong Lang assessed.
Regarding the fact that consumers have the right to reflect when detecting inaccurate information on the system or signs of dishonesty, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thuong Lang said that when the right to access data is combined with the mechanism of reflection and processing, traceability will not only be a management tool of the State but also become part of the market monitoring mechanism.
For policies to be truly effective, it is important that the data is accurate, connects the entire supply chain, and management agencies can use the data to detect and handle violations," Mr. Lang recommended.
