Delegates perform the button-pressing ceremony to officially launch the Agricultural Product Traceability System, marking its deployment on a national scale.

The ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung, Minister of Agriculture and Environment Trinh Viet Hung, Director General of Vietnam Television Nguyen Thanh Lam, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Dang Ngoc Diep, leadership representatives from the Ministry of Public Security, alongside representatives from the Government Office, various ministries, sectors, localities, businesses, industry associations, experts, and scientists.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung highly commended the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment for its proactivity in developing, implementing, and operating the traceability system for agricultural, forestry, and fishery products, in accordance with the mandates assigned by the National Steering Committee on Science, Technology, Innovation, and Digital Transformation, the Government, and the Prime Minister.

Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung speaks at the ceremony.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, this marks a vital step forward in the digital transformation of the agriculture and environment sector. It helps clarify the entire production chain and trace the origin of agricultural products, thereby ensuring quality, maintaining reputation, and enhancing the value of Vietnamese agricultural commodities.

Beyond its technical significance, the system's launch comes at a time when the agricultural sector faces numerous new requirements. Serving as the backbone of the economy, Vietnamese agriculture continues to maintain positive growth. In the first five months of the year alone, the export turnover of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products reached nearly USD 31 billion, up 9.2%, resulting in a trade surplus of over USD 8.4 billion. However, the export target of over USD 74 billion for 2026 places tremendous pressure on the sector as global markets increasingly tighten requirements regarding information transparency and traceability.

The Deputy Prime Minister stated that traceability is no longer an isolated requirement but has become an inevitable trend in quality management and consumer protection. For sustainable development, Vietnamese agricultural products must build robust brands and meet increasingly stringent international market standards. Nevertheless, implementation faces many challenges, given that domestic agricultural production remains largely small-scale and fragmented, involving a vast number of smallholder farming households. Therefore, according to the Deputy Prime Minister, a suitable roadmap is required, deploying from key focus areas to broader expansions to ensure efficiency and feasibility.

In the immediate future, he requested prioritizing traceability implementation for key commodity sectors, high-yield products, and high-economic-value goods that serve domestic consumption and export, particularly targeting major markets such as China, the EU, and the United States. On this foundation, it is crucial to continue perfecting mechanisms, standards, data infrastructure, and the traceability system itself, while gradually expanding to other product groups with high management demands, potential food safety risks, or those required to meet strict regulations of specific markets.

Furthermore, the Deputy Prime Minister requested that the Ministries of Public Security, Science and Technology, Industry and Trade, and Finance coordinate closely with localities to enhance, standardize, and complete mechanisms for data integration, connectivity, sharing, and authentication. He also emphasized the need to support businesses, cooperatives, and farming households to participate in the system. Traceability should be viewed as a tool to control and elevate the quality, value, and competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural products, rather than becoming a newly generated administrative burden. In particular, the deployment must be simple, effective, and well-aligned with the practices and farming experiences of local people.

From a state management perspective, the Deputy Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment along with other ministries and sectors to continue reviewing and simplifying administrative procedures, ensuring that technical conditions or internal processes—which can easily be exploited if not strictly controlled—are not over-bureaucratized.

He expressed confidence that with the synchronized involvement of ministries, sectors, and localities, along with the active participation of the business community and citizens, the Agricultural Product Traceability System will become a crucial digital infrastructure. It will contribute to building a modern, transparent, safe, and sustainably developed agricultural sector.

Practical results in various localities show that the system has delivered tangible efficiency. In Hanoi, the traceability system has granted accounts to over 3,000 production and business establishments; more than 12,000 products have been issued QR codes, helping regulatory authorities control quality, enabling businesses to provide transparent information, and allowing consumers to easily trace product origins.

From a corporate perspective, a representative from Masan MEATLife shared that traceability is not only a regulatory requirement but also the foundation for building consumer trust. Currently, the enterprise has applied traceability to 100% of its meat products, digitalizing all production chain data and standing ready to connect with the Ministry’s system to maximize transparency and product value.

At the ceremony, delegates performed the button-pressing ritual to officially launch the Agricultural Product Traceability System, marking its official operation across the nation. The announcement and rollout of the system are expected to establish a foundational digital pillar, driving a modern, transparent, safe, and sustainable agriculture sector that meets the growing demands of both domestic and international markets.

Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung takes a commemorative photo with delegates at the launching ceremony of the Agricultural Product Traceability System.