Resolution No. 36/2026/NQ-CP, issued by the Government on July 31, 2026, is expected to create an important turning point in the issuance and management of growing area codes and packaging facility codes by transitioning from a pre-inspection mechanism to self-declaration and post-inspection, thereby shortening procedure resolution times and significantly reducing administrative burdens for residents, cooperatives, and enterprises...

At the conference deploying the Government's Resolution No. 36/2026/NQ-CP organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment on August 4, 2026, localities focused on discussing new points of the Resolution, while highlighting challenges and recommending solutions in growing area code management.

NUMEROUS NEW REGULATIONS CONVENIENT FOR ENTERPRISES AND FARMERS

Under Resolution No. 36, for organizations and individuals not registering for export to markets requiring codes, the Chairman of the Commune-level People's Committee must issue a notification granting a growing area code or packaging facility code within a time limit not exceeding 3 working days from the receipt of complete valid dossiers. In cases where codes are not granted, the competent agency must respond in writing and clearly state the reasons.

For dossiers serving exports to markets maintaining code requirements, the maximum resolution time frame is 10 working days for localities to inspect compliance with technical requirements prior to granting codes or executing approval processes under importing country regulations.

The Resolution also simplifies execution processes as residents merely need to submit dossiers directly to the Commune-level People's Committee where the growing area or packaging facility is located via the National Public Service Portal.

A notable new point is that the identification of growing areas becomes more flexible. Plot locations are determined according to unique identification numbers within the national land database; in cases where data is not yet available or cannot be exploited, registrants are permitted to self-declare area and location, after which the Commune-level People's Committee will verify during physical inspections or post-inspections.

The Resolution also affirms that growing area codes are issued solely for one determined crop type, neither substituting nor establishing land use rights.

Notably, data regarding growing area codes and packaging facility codes will be managed centrally on the system of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, connecting with the national origin traceability system and related databases. Localities bear responsibility for publicly disclosing the operational status of each code—such as active, awaiting approval, temporarily suspended, or revoked—for organizations and individuals to easily look up.

For cases granted codes under abbreviated procedures, Commune-level People's Committees must conduct post-inspections within a maximum time limit of 3 months from the issuance date, while registrants bear legal responsibility for the accuracy and truthfulness of all declared information.

Up through July 15, 2026, since the deployment of the Government's Decree No. 38/2026/ND-CP issued on January 24, 2026 regulating the importation of plants with root balls and growing area codes alongside packaging facility codes, the entire country has granted 481 growing area codes and 349 packaging facility codes serving the export of numerous agricultural products such as pomelos, mangoes, jackfruit, dragon fruit, bananas, coconuts, durians... to markets including China, the United States, South Korea, the European Union (EU), New Zealand, and multiple other nations — Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment

LOCALITIES RECOMMEND STRENGTHENING COMMUNE-LEVEL CAPACITY

At the deployment conference, multiple localities highlighted new challenges and recommended solutions in growing area code management. Mr. Vu Dinh Cuong, Deputy Director of the Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and Environment, stated that immediately after Resolution No. 36 was issued, the locality urgently directed the deployment of new regulations.

However, with 124 communes, wards, and special zones undertaking growing area code issuance tasks for the first time, confusion will arise during dossier processing. One of the current difficulties is that forces conducting post-inspections following code issuance remain thin, while management requirements grow increasingly strict. Beside that, local testing capacity has not yet satisfied demand during peak export seasons, particularly for durian commodities, risking impacts on goods clearance speeds.

Sharing the same perspective, Vice Chairman of the Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee Duong Mah Tiep evaluated that decentralizing to the commune level, executing procedures entirely in digital environments, and shifting from pre-inspection to post-inspection mechanisms will generate new momentum for agricultural exports. However, for this model to perform efficiently, the locality recommended strengthening training for commune-level cadres, while simultaneously building specialized forces at the provincial level with sufficient capacity to support, guide, and resolve emerging difficulties during deployment.

Dak Lak recommended that the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment promptly complete the connection infrastructure between the province's Agricultural Digital Map and the National Agricultural Traceability System to create a synchronized data foundation serving production, consumption, and export — Ms. Dang Thi Thuy, Deputy Director of the Dak Lak Department of Agriculture and Environment

Meanwhile, Dak Lak Province proactively prepared early through a peak "30 Days and Nights" campaign digitizing durian growing area code and packaging facility data, while connecting with the local Agricultural Traceability System.

Ms. Dang Thi Thuy, Deputy Director of the Dak Lak Department of Agriculture and Environment, stated that the Department was assigned to lead coordination with departments, agencies, and local authorities to establish mobile task forces to directly survey current statuses, determine coordinates, digitize growing area boundaries, standardize data, and support handling arising technical issues.

Beside that, Commune-level People's Committees were assigned tasks to propagate and guide residents, cooperatives, and enterprises in preparing dossiers, verifying information, and coordinating data provision for the digitization process.

Addressing local recommendations, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Hoang Hiep considered that instead of relying entirely on superior management agencies, localities need to proactively build support systems right from the grassroots level. The Ministry will prioritize resources to support Central Highlands provinces during the initial deployment phase, while dispatching specialized cadres to directly guide localities in executing new regulations.

Particularly, the Ministry requested localities to urgently build community agricultural extension forces in each commune, viewing this as an "extended arm" supporting grassroots governance. This force will guide residents in completing dossiers, recording production logs, applying uniform farming procedures, and maintaining conditions required for growing area codes.

According to leadership from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, issuing growing area codes is not merely an administrative procedure, but must guarantee three core elements: complete dossiers, uniform production processes, and fully recorded farming logs. This serves as the foundation to guarantee origin traceability and satisfy increasingly stringent requirements from import markets.

Source: VnEconomy