Many production and breeding establishments and units in Dong Nai participated in the program - Photo: N.TRI
On the afternoon of October 18, the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City coordinated with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dong Nai province to organize a conference to deploy a cooperation program on goods quality control between Dong Nai province and Ho Chi Minh City.
"Can't live without each other"
Speaking at the conference, Mr. Tran Lam Sinh - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dong Nai province - said that the province has many agricultural products that meet quality and safety standards.
Regarding safe food chains, up to now Dong Nai has built and deployed 50 chains, 331 points of sale of safe products, mainly pork, chicken, eggs, processed products...
Currently, the local monthly output reaches nearly 16,000 tons of meat, vegetables, meat and dairy products (13,887 tons of meat, 1,490 tons of processed meat and dairy products, 508 tons of vegetables and mushrooms) and more than 10 million eggs...
“Most of the agricultural and food products produced locally are supplied to the Ho Chi Minh City market. It can be said that Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai cannot live without each other, they need to cooperate to develop together,” said Mr. Sinh.
At the conference, Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong - Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City - affirmed that choosing Dong Nai as the first province to sign the agreement to improve the management of goods quality is necessary, because this is the locality that supplies most of the pork, chicken, and eggs for more than 10 million people in Ho Chi Minh City.
According to Mr. Phuong, Ho Chi Minh City has now gathered all the most favorable conditions for ensuring food safety, is the first locality in the country to have a Department of Food Safety, and has large and long-term projects in food safety supervision.
There are still many concerns and limitations in control.
According to Mr. Sinh, although production is high and product quality has improved, the current agricultural output consumed through linkages is not commensurate with output.
Most of the consumption is still controlled by traders, the production stage is still small-scale, leading to unstable product quality, and there is even concern about controlling antibiotic and pesticide residues...
“Cooperation in controlling the quality of goods and bringing agricultural products to supermarket chains helps producers become more aware of the need to improve quality. However, the program needs specific, consistent, and transparent information so that suppliers can understand and make appropriate changes soon,” Mr. Sinh assessed.
Sharing at the conference, Ms. Tran Thi Ha - representative of Cohafood Company (Dong Nai) - said that the unit specializes in producing pure ham and sausage without using additives, but the unit is also under pressure with quality management, traceability of input origin...
Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City needs to provide clearer information on regulations, and needs support and training.
Many agricultural and food products were "offered" by the units right at the program - Photo: N.TRI
Many production units believe that controlling linkages are good, but the most important step is to control the quality of inputs, agricultural materials, pesticides, etc. to ensure healthy production.
Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong believes that price and quality are the decisive factors for a product. Quality products often have high prices, but if they cannot be differentiated, it is very difficult to compete with low-quality products of the same type.
Therefore, when manufacturers improve quality, state agencies will confirm and make everything transparent for consumers to choose.
“It is expected that in early 2025, the city will start labeling products participating in the program, which will be like a “green tick of responsibility”, helping consumers recognize and distinguish products to choose from,” said Mr. Phuong.
At the conference, three major distributors in Ho Chi Minh City, including SATRA, Bach Hoa Xanh and Saigon Co.op, signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the consumption of goods with 10 suppliers in Dong Nai. The main products of the suppliers are chicken meat, dried chicken, fresh and processed vegetables and fruits, etc.
In addition to Dong Nai, the city's industry and trade sector said it will continue to support and promote this signing, especially in provinces and cities with a large amount of food products brought to the city such as Lam Dong, Tien Giang, Binh Thuan, etc.
The cooperation program to control the quality of goods in Ho Chi Minh City is a content launched by the city from March 2024 with the goal of orienting the production and trading of safe food. Up to now, 8 large retailers have signed with many suppliers.
Participating in the program, suppliers voluntarily control product quality, voluntarily share information to prevent defective products; retailers voluntarily form a comprehensive quality control system in accordance with general regulations, publicly disclose violations; in case a supplier's product is violated at one supermarket, it will not be sold to the remaining supermarkets in the program...
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