Connecting the digital traceability system to the product value chainFood traceability: Ensuring consumers' rights to consume safe food
The conference was organized by the Department of Trade Promotion (Ministry of Industry and Trade) in collaboration with the German Development Cooperation Organization in Hanoi, attracting nearly 200 delegates from trade promotion units, organizations, businesses and individuals. news and press agencies.

The workshop focused on two main contents: First, reporting the results of the Support for Regional Economic Cooperation in Asia (SRECA) project in Vietnam that has been implemented and the operational effectiveness agreed upon by both sides in the project. Agreement on in-depth cooperation through long-term activities and plans to support organizations and businesses to raise awareness, effectively participate in the digital transformation process, and effectively deploy production activities. Successful production, business and export.

Second, present and introduce the itrace247 trade promotion traceability system. Support businesses to further enhance the use of digital tools, build the image and brand of their products in the market, both domestically and for export, in accordance with the direction of the target country. Supporting consumers not only to experience the product production process but also have the opportunity to understand more about the historical and geographical values, understand the care and process to create the product.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr. Vu Ba Phu - Director of the Department of Trade Promotion, said: After 2 years affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, our country's economy has recovered quite clearly in many fields. , Vietnam's commodity exports continue to overcome difficulties and maintain high growth. We have implemented the socio-economic recovery and development program according to Resolution No. 43/2022/QH15 of the National Assembly. However, in the context of the current world situation, there are many uncertainties, the uncertain factors mixed with the tense geopolitical situation and the world's inflation situation are still a big challenge for the country's economy. water.

2023 is a pivotal year in successfully implementing the economic development plan for the period 2021 - 2025, with the goal of digitizing trade promotion activities and promoting the application of information technology and digital transformation in Promotion work is an important content in the policy of building a digital government, digital economy and society, and digital transformation in production and business has been identified by the Party, Government, and Prime Minister as a solution. , an inevitable trend for production and business units to improve capacity, competitive advantage, recover after the pandemic and develop. Digital platform application is identified as one of the breakthroughs, creating a premise for the implementation of the 4.0 industrial revolution in agriculture, promoting the connection of agricultural product consumption, aiming at export standards, meeting Meet the requirements of restructuring the agricultural sector and international economic integration.

In the context of a market economy, traceability (ensuring quality, safety and transparency of products and goods) receives even more attention and is a mandatory regulation in many countries around the world. In other words, it is traceability and this activity contributes to creating a foundation for the production and circulation of goods in the digital economy, helping businesses meet international and national regulations. imports, thereby helping to increase productivity, product quality and consumer markets for businesses.

According to the representative of the German Development Cooperation Organization in Vietnam, Vietnamese exports are expected to grow by 6% in 2023, opening up new business expectations for businesses. However, the Vietnamese economy is also facing many difficult challenges, requiring businesses to take corresponding preparation steps, including green production and information transparency to help customers evaluate quality. and product sustainability, increasing customer trust and support for products and businesses.

In fact, traceability ensures that production processes and products are public, helping customers and the community to accurately evaluate a business's production and ensure the business's responsibility towards the environment. market and society, thereby enhancing the value of the product, contributing to building the image and raising customer awareness of products originating from Vietnam.

Within the framework of cooperation between the Department of Trade Promotion and the German Development Cooperation Organization, the two sides jointly implemented the SRECA Project in Vietnam for 3 years (2019-2022). The project focuses on improving the capacity of trade promotion organizations, trade support organizations, and small and medium-sized enterprises to take advantage of opportunities from the ASEAN-China agreement to export successfully. agricultural products to the Chinese market.

Faced with the above practical requirements, the Department of Trade Promotion has coordinated with relevant units to deploy the "Trade Promotion Origin Traceability System" to provide a set of online traceability solutions to help businesses Enterprises, cooperatives and farmer households update information about product origin (general information, electronic logs during the farming process, production, processing, transportation, distribution...).

The iTrace247 origin traceability stamp of the Department of Trade Promotion has been piloted for the domestic market since March 2021 for vegetable and fruit products from Hai Duong, Son La and Bac Giang provinces. To meet export needs, traceability stamps can display languages according to customer requirements, meeting the requirements for product information transparency of import markets.

Previously, Thanh Ha lychee products of Hai Duong with iTrace247 traceability stamps with information displayed in English and Japanese were exported to Singapore and Japan. Following the initial successes, iTrace247 upgraded its version to apply blockchain technology with more transparency to meet the requirements of the demanding market./.

Minh Toan