The conference focused on comprehensively assessing the current status of code management such as code issuance, post-issuance inspection and supervision, maintaining conditions of growing areas and packaging facilities, thereby pointing out shortcomings and limitations that need to be overcome.

The custard apple garden of farmer Do Thi My in Chi Lang district, Lang Son province has been given a growing area code.

According to Mr. Huynh Tan Dat, Director of the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), up to now, the whole country has had 6,883 codes for growing areas and 1,588 codes for agricultural product packaging facilities granted. These codes focus mainly on major export products such as mango, dragon fruit, longan, rice, and durian. The markets of China, the United States, New Zealand, and Australia are the markets with the largest number of codes for growing areas and packaging facilities. In particular, the Mekong Delta is still the leading region in terms of the number of codes for growing areas and packaging facilities.

However, recently, the Plant Protection Department has continuously received notices from importing countries regarding non-compliance with plant quarantine (KTV) requirements, including banana, mango, durian, jackfruit, dragon fruit, longan, etc. products exported to the Chinese market and containing chemical residues exceeding regulations (durian, rambutan, chili exported to Germany, France, Spain or frozen chili exported to Korea). These notices also require Vietnam to have strict control measures on KTV objects and residual plant protection chemicals (BVTV) in agricultural products of export shipments...

Ms. Do Thi My (Chi Lang district, Lang Son province) has been granted a code for the custard apple growing area.

To improve the effectiveness of the management of codes for growing areas and agricultural product packaging facilities for export in the coming time, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Trung requested the Plant Protection Department to continue negotiating to expand export markets and to have importing countries grant new codes for Vietnamese agricultural products. Strengthen guidance, supervision, and inspection of the issuance, management, and use of codes in localities. Coordinate with ministries, branches, and localities in inspection, examination, and handling of violations. Strengthen inspection and control of goods and information about growing areas and packaging facilities related to shipments. Detect, handle, and absolutely do not grant phytosanitary certificates to shipments that do not comply with the legal regulations on phytosanitary...

On the local side, Deputy Minister Hoang Trung also proposed to develop a mechanism and regularly monitor the preliminary processing and selection of goods to ensure that they are not contaminated with harmful organisms at packaging facilities that have been granted codes. Improve the quality of initial inspections of codes for growing areas and packaging facilities; strengthen monitoring of codes after they have been granted. Review growing areas that have been granted codes; do not grant codes to growing areas located in special-use forests or protective forests (except for medicinal plants under the forest canopy as prescribed by law) or areas at risk of landslides...

News and photos: NGUYEN KIEM

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