'Three haves' for Nghe An agricultural products

With its diverse climate, soil and culture, Nghe An is also home to a rich variety of agricultural products. Some of these products have been processed into products that are famous for their quality and uniqueness.

However, in the current very complicated situation of food quality and hygiene and safety, the vast majority of agricultural products of Nghe An, including processed products that have become specialties such as soy sauce, pickled bamboo shoots, when introduced to the market, do not have enough scientific and legal factors to create trust for consumers.

Buyers can only trust that the place they buy from is trustworthy, and sellers can only use their reputation to "guarantee" that the products are "real" and "clean".

Vinh oranges with traceability stamps are in high demand. Photo: PV

Currently, in Vinh city and some districts, there are dozens of stores displaying signs of clean food or safe food. However, not all of them have all the factors to ensure consumer peace of mind. Many products, especially those from Nghe An, do not have factors proving their origin, quality, especially in terms of food hygiene and safety. The situation of counterfeiting famous specialties has been and is happening quite complicatedly.
To fundamentally solve the current food safety issues, it is time for the agricultural sector and relevant sectors to support and help farmers implement three management solutions, which I call "Three Haves" for their products.
First of all is “Branded”. The brand is the most important element in the product brand identity and is also the element protected by the State (specifically the Intellectual Property Office). For agricultural products, it is possible to build a common brand, registered by businesses, households, or individuals as owners.
In Nghe An, there are a number of products registered by enterprises that have been protected by exclusive trademarks, such as "Nghe An Rice" of Vinh Hoa Company (Yen Thanh), Thien Son oranges of Thien Son orange farm (Yen Thanh); Le Dong fermented wine (Con Cuong), Mu Tun wine (Long Ly Company)... However, most of the famous agricultural products in Nghe An are associated with place names, such as Thanh Chuong pickled mustard, Nam Dan soy sauce; black chicken, Ky Son taro; Gay tea (Anh Son); Quy Chau pickled bamboo shoots... According to the Law on Intellectual Property, trademarks associated with that place name must be registered for protection in the form of collective trademarks, certification trademarks or geographical indications.

Vinh oranges are labeled. Photo: Quang An

Nghe An has the geographical indication Cam Vinh; the certified trademark of Van Phan fish sauce; the collective trademark of Huong Tram Quy Chau, Phu Loi fish sauce (Quynh Di commune, Hoang Mai town), Hai Giang 1 fish sauce (Cua Lo town)...

Currently, depending on the product, it is possible to choose an appropriate form of brand establishment. For example, Vinh city and some districts and towns such as Dien Chau, Anh Son, Nam Dan, Cua Lo... can build a safe vegetable certification label bearing their local names. This certification label is owned and directly managed by the People's Committee of the district, city or town. The People's Committee of the district, city or town has the right to review and allow qualified production, processing and business establishments according to regulations to use the certification label.

Or, producers and traders of a certain type of product can establish cooperatives or production and business associations to register for protection of their products bearing their geographical names in the form of collective trademarks. Geographical indications are national assets, only granted to products that are truly famous and have large volumes. In addition to Vinh oranges that have been recognized, Nghe An is currently promoting the registration of geographical indication protection for Ky Son ginger products.

The second is “Have quality certificate”.Quality is the most important factor of a product, especially food hygiene and safety is a mandatory requirement that has been legalized for food products. Many agricultural products of Nghe An have a reputation for quality, are famous for their delicious taste, or have unique elements such as Thanh Chuong pickled mustard, Nam Dan soy sauce; Vinh oranges; Quynh Di fish sauce; fermented wine; Quy Chau pickled bamboo shoots...

However, in terms of food safety, most of our products have not paid attention to certification. In many places, the government has spent billions and tens of billions of dong on planning, infrastructure investment, support for seeds, fertilizers, plant protection, and techniques for people to grow safe vegetables, but they have forgotten about food safety. In the end, the products of billion-dollar projects lack food safety certificates, and the cost to issue them is only in the millions or tens of millions of dong.

Nghe An affixes traceability stamps to pear guava for the first time. Photo: PV

Third is "Have origin traceability stamp".This is a factor that consumers are increasingly concerned about. According to the law, the origin of the product must be clearly stated on the product packaging. However, in reality, when the situation of counterfeit goods has not been eliminated, the packaging cannot create trust for consumers.

Along with the development of technology, there have been technical solutions for anti-counterfeiting (such as anti-counterfeit stamps) and traceability (such as barcodes). Especially recently, the electronic traceability stamp solution has quickly gained the attention and trust of consumers. People only need to use a smartphone with the corresponding software installed, scan the electronic stamp to know the necessary information about that product. The cost of applying electronic traceability stamps is insignificant.

If the number of products is tens of thousands, then each such stamp only costs around 200 VND. The current pilot application of electronic traceability stamps for Vinh oranges has proven that this solution is extremely effective, creating a very high level of trust for buyers.

It can be said that if the "Three Yes" as mentioned above is seriously implemented, the product will gain the trust of consumers, so people are willing to buy it at a higher price than other products of the same type.

Although it is not really difficult and costly, for individual farmers and even cooperatives, farms, and even some agricultural enterprises, they may be very proficient in production, but the concepts of "brand, trademark", "quality", "traceability" are very unfamiliar. Farmers in general are almost unable to make their own brand, register quality or traceability stamps.

Vinh oranges with traceability stamps are in high demand. Photo: PV

Therefore, in addition to propaganda and dissemination in the media, it is necessary for authorities at all levels to have plans and policies for the implementation of "Three Yes". Each district, city, town, and commune should identify certain products to support people and cooperatives or enterprises to synchronously implement all three management solutions: Brand; quality certificate and traceability stamp. It is estimated that each product only needs investment and support of about 100 million VND to fundamentally solve the "Three Yes" requirements. In addition, from now on, projects and investment models in agriculture should pay attention to the "Three Yes" requirements. Avoid investing billions or tens of billions of VND in infrastructure and technology while forgetting to spend tens of millions of VND on trademark registration, quality or traceability stamps.