Traceability is no longer an option but has become a mandatory requirement for Vietnamese agricultural products to assert their position on the world map. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is accelerating the progress of finalizing the national traceability system, aiming towards the official operation date on July 1, 2026, creating a transparent platform for the entire value chain.

Building technical infrastructure: Synchronicity and security are key

The drastic determination of the agricultural sector is demonstrated through concrete results during the past implementation phase. Up to now, the system has updated information for approximately 18,000 products belonging to 112 different product groups. The system's coverage is expanding rapidly with the participation of 26 out of 34 surveyed provinces and cities, including 919 shipments, 547 farming households, 255 growing areas, and 149 enterprises.

The most prominent bright spot is the successful pilot on durian products exported to the Chinese market. The successful export of two containers of durian through the Huu Nghi border gate using electronic traceability stamps has verified the entire actual operational process. To prepare for this step forward, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development proactively sent an official dispatch to the General Administration of Customs of China to notify them about the traceability system, stamp samples, and the list of growing area codes and packing facilities serving export activities. This demonstrates proactive integration and supply chain transparency with a major partner.

To ensure the system goes live on schedule and operates stably, the construction of technical infrastructure is given special focus. According to the Department of Digital Transformation, the infrastructure is ready for 2026 with rigorous reviews and remediation of information security vulnerabilities. The traceability system is not built in isolation but is tightly integrated, expected to connect with 7 major specialized databases of the Ministry, including: growing area codes, packing facilities, livestock farms, aquaculture processing facilities, and other management data.

The viewpoint of the Ministry's leadership is to maximize the use of existing technology platforms of enterprises such as Netacom, CheckVN, or iCheck to avoid waste and shorten deployment times. These systems are being adjusted according to a common set of standards, integrating advanced technologies like blockchain to enhance transparency, ensuring that data cannot be tampered with and possesses absolute reliability.

The operational model is clearly defined according to the principle of layered responsibility: each subject in the chain (from raw material areas and traders to exporting enterprises) must bear responsibility for their own data portion. This approach is both practical and guarantees the authenticity of information during tracing.

Not an administrative barrier, but a tool to elevate value

One of the vital messages emphasized by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Trung is: The traceability system is a management tool aimed at making information transparent, not an administrative barrier or a new mandatory condition causing difficulties for enterprises. On the contrary, this is a solution to improve the quality of state management and support enterprises in meeting the strict standards of the international market.

Alongside durian, the Ministry is concurrently deploying models for other key commodity sectors such as rice, meat, eggs, milk, tea, fruits, and seafood. Each field will select from one to three key products to build pilot models, thereby drawing experience before replicating nationwide. In localities like Phu Tho, production mindsets have undergone a strong shift from a "quantity mindset" to a "value mindset", with more than 400 hectares of VietGAP vegetables and the application rate of integrated pest management (IPM) reaching over 90%, creating favorable prerequisites for integration into the national traceability system.

Despite having achieved important initial results, leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also frankly pointed out that the overall deployment progress still needs to "accelerate" further. To ensure the system officially operates from July 1, 2026, a specific roadmap has been set out:

Before June 20: Technology solution providers must complete the remediation of existing technical limitations and vulnerabilities after the information security assessment.

Before June 22: Finalize the synchronization of specialized data, hand over the system, and install it on the Ministry's infrastructure.

Initial phase of operation: Strive to connect from 3 to 5 localities and a minimum of 10 deeply involved enterprises.

Deputy Minister Hoang Trung requested that the heads of relevant units must directly direct and bear comprehensive responsibility for the progress as well as the quality of implementation. Building the traceability system is not merely a technical task but a strategic mission of long-term significance for sector management and the sustainable development of Vietnam's agricultural market.

The determination of the agricultural sector in building a synchronous, modern traceability system reflects the aspiration to move Vietnamese agricultural products away from the label of "cheap, low quality" to advance toward higher-end segments in the global market. When all information about the product from breeding and care to the dining table is publicized and easily verified, the trust of domestic and foreign consumers will be firmly consolidated.

In the coming time, the Ministry will continue to finalize legal documents and circulars on agricultural traceability and coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security to build related decrees, creating a solid legal corridor for the system. The national traceability system will be the first and most crucial "brick" to build a transparent, responsible, and sustainable agriculture, meeting the expectations of the Government and the people in the digital era.

Source: Bao Dien tu Chinh phu