Initial results
Do Luong District has just organized the first OCOP product classification assessment in 2023 according to Decision 148/QD-TTg for 10 products, of which 1 product was upgraded to 4 stars, 9 products were newly evaluated. According to the council's assessment, this time, the whole district has 8 products meeting the 3-star OCOP criteria.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang (Hamlet 2, Lam Son Commune, Do Luong), the owner of 2 products evaluated and classified as 3-star OCOP products at the district level this time, said: "The delegation of authority to the district to evaluate and classify OCOP products helps entities like us save costs and time by not having to go to the province to participate in the evaluation; at the same time, psychologically, participating in the OCOP classification competition at the district level is more comfortable. This year, we participated in the evaluation of 2 products and both products achieved 3 stars."
Also participating in the OCOP product classification evaluation this time, Mr. Bui Dinh Hoi (Nghi Hung commune, Nghi Loc district) has just been granted a 3-star OCOP certificate by the district for Hung Long melon product, said: "For households that are new to product evaluation like us, it is very convenient. Firstly, the district directly guides and appraises the documents and procedures, so when there are errors or omissions, they can be promptly supplemented and corrected. Secondly, it reduces one step of grading, does not have to go to the province many times, saving costs and time."
By the end of July 2023, Nghi Loc district had successfully organized the first round of district-level OCOP product selection conferences. Based on the common criteria set by the Central Government, the district council recognized 5 more 3-star OCOP products including: shallots, Hoang Gia melon, Hung Long melon, Ong Ly roasted peanuts, Nghi Long yellow melon.
Mr. Tran Nguyen Hoa, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, member of the OCOP Product Selection Council of Nghi Loc district said: “With the authority, when selecting OCOP products according to Decision 148/QD-TTg, members of the OCOP product selection council at the district level are more proactive in all aspects. District leaders, departments and offices do not have to go to the province many times to participate in the judging rounds. The subjects themselves also find it more convenient when they do not have to travel much, reducing one round of judging…”.
According to Decision 148/QD-TTg, the assessment and classification are implemented at 4 levels: commune, district, province and central, with 6 product groups. At the commune level, the People's Committee of communes, wards and towns (Commune-level People's Committee) organizes the assessment of some contents of the product dossiers registered to participate in the OCOP product assessment, including the following criteria: Origin of local products/raw materials; use of local labor; origin of product ideas; local identity/intelligence.
At the district level, the district council organizes the evaluation and classification of products participating in the OCOP Program; issues decisions approving the evaluation results and certificates for 3-star products, and organizes the announcement of the results.
District People's Committees transfer dossiers of products that score from 70 to 100 points (4 stars or more) to the People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities (Provincial People's Committees) to request evaluation, classification, and recognition of OCOP products.
Problems and shortcomings
By the end of October 2023, the whole province had only 8 districts evaluating and classifying OCOP products according to Decision 148/QD-TTg, including: Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan, Do Luong, Vinh city, Nghi Loc, Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu.
This shows the delay in implementation due to many difficulties at the grassroots level. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Do Luong district, said: “Do Luong has just completed the grading and classification of OCOP products in mid-October 2023. In the process of decentralizing the evaluation of OCOP products, as a full-time officer, I noticed that there were still difficulties such as: Firstly, because there was no specific and clear guidance document on how to implement, the council members were still confused; secondly, the district leaders who are members of the council all hold concurrent positions, so they are not as close as the provincial members who are specialized departments and branches.
In addition, according to regulations, the district-level evaluation council must have representatives from the departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, Science and Technology, Natural Resources and Environment and specialized management departments, so the district depends on the time and work schedule of professional staff from the departments and branches.
From the perspective of the subjects participating in the evaluation and classification of OCOP products, they still prefer to be recognized by the province rather than the district. “They are both 3-star OCOPs, but I personally think that 3-star OCOPs recognized by the province are of course more “prestigious” than those recognized by the district. Consumer tastes are the same, the same type of product but 3-star OCOPs at the provincial level will be more welcomed by many people than 3-star OCOPs recognized by the district level even though all the criteria and scoring scale for evaluation are the same,” an OCOP subject shared.
In addition, according to Decision 148, currently, the assessment and classification of products with 3 stars or less is assigned to the district level. Meanwhile, in Clause 4, Article 3 of Resolution 25/2020/NQ-HDND dated December 13, 2020, stipulating a number of policies to support the implementation of the One Commune One Product program in Nghe An province for the period 2021-2025, only OCOP products with provincial certification will be supported, which also causes many concerns for localities, because is it necessary to amend the content of achieving district-level certification?
From the perspective of the management agency, Mr. Nguyen Ho Lam - Deputy Head of the Department of Rural Development said that decentralizing the assessment and classification of OCOP products according to Decision 148/QD-TTg is the right policy, reducing inconvenience for the subjects; Decentralization will enhance the role, responsibility and initiative of the district and commune levels in supporting product development and organizing the inspection and supervision of OCOP products.
At the same time, it helps to improve the capacity of OCOP management officials at district and commune levels to support the subjects; creating motivation for the subjects to continue to develop and improve so that the following products meet standards.
However, according to Mr. Nguyen Ho Lam's analysis, the implementation of Decision 148 still has certain concerns. That is: The staff in charge of OCOP in the district lacks expertise, so when reviewing documents and scoring, there are certain limitations. Although the scoring council invites representatives from the departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, Health, Science and Technology and Industry and Trade, the departments are only members of the council, and the criticism also has certain limitations.
District level assessment, if not done seriously, not according to standards, can easily lead to achievement thinking, term thinking, and localism when recognizing OCOP products in localities.
Besides, when evaluating and classifying at the district level, the number of products is small, only within the district, so there is not much competition with similar products, so if not really thorough and impartial, products that do not ensure quality, do not have characteristics, differences, and are not competitive will be "starred" OCOP.
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