Discuss ways to remove difficulties in the circulation of agricultural goods

On the afternoon of August 25, the Ministry of Transport held an online conference to discuss plans for transporting agricultural goods in the complicated conditions of the Covid-19 epidemic. The conference was chaired by Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The. On the side of Nghe An province, there was Mr. Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, along with representatives of relevant departments, branches and sectors.

In the face of the epidemicCovid-19outbreak and many complicated developments on a large scale, recently the Ministry of Transport has proactively coordinated with ministries, branches and local authorities to focus on directing relevant agencies and units to promptly deploy many transportation solutions to ensure that the supply chain of essential goods serving the people and raw materials for business production is not disrupted.

However, in reality, there are still many difficulties in transporting goods, especially perishable agricultural products in localities due to the Covid-19 epidemic, leading to goods being stuck, many agricultural products in large production areas were not circulated in time and were damaged, forced to be destroyed...

At Nghe An bridge, comrade Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee chaired the conference. Photo: Tien Dong

Ms. Phan Thi Thu Hien - Deputy Director General, Vietnam Road Administration said that up to now, the Vietnam Road Administration has issued 546,000 Vehicle Identification Cards with QR Code at 63 Departments of Transport of provinces and cities.

However, according to Ms. Hien, currently, some localities have not yet agreed on the list of essential goods allowed to circulate during the epidemic. Many localities have not yet agreed on the Ministry of Health's instructions on the use of rapid test results or PCR for drivers, the validity period of the Test Certificate. Not to mention the phenomenon of forgery.QRCode CertificateGreen lanes are used to participate in traffic, taking advantage of transporting people and goods that are not registered in order to avoid the control of the authorities and erasing to change the time on the Test Certificate. At the same time, there is a phenomenon of "brokers" providing services to make green lane cards competing for customers with the national green lane registration system; some passenger cars take advantage of transporting relief goods to pass the checkpoint.

Checking the documents of a container truck transporting goods through the checkpoint to enter Vinh City. Photo: Tien Dong

Mr. Phung Duc Tien - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development informed that recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has established two special working groups in the North and the South, and the Southern working group alone has established more than 1,000 agricultural product consumption points. However, in many cases, vehicles have been granted operation certificates by one province but are not allowed to circulate in other provinces, so they have been forced to return, causing congestion and frustration among transport businesses and drivers. This has caused a number of production chains to be broken, especially in aquaculture areas and livestock farms that have reached harvest time but due to transportation difficulties, they cannot be distributed to consumers. Meanwhile, people in big cities are lacking food.

Mr. Tien also proposed that provinces need to have unified directive documents from the province, district, and commune to avoid the creation of many sub-licenses, affecting the circulation of goods.

Delivering and receiving goods at Vinh bypass area during the first outbreak of the epidemic in Vinh City. Photo: Tien Dong

Regarding the trade sector, Mr. Tran Duy Dong - Director of the Domestic Market Department - Ministry of Industry and Trade agreed with the view that it is necessary to review the directive documents to unify the direction of the Prime Minister of the representatives of the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Mr. Dong said that all goods are essential goods, except for banned goods, but many localities still have different understandings. Moreover, the conditions, procedures and documents for passing through localities are not unified. Some localities do not accept PCR test results from other localities but require re-testing when arriving in their locality, which makes the journey of traveling and transporting goods of businesses longer.

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The requested localities to review the system of directive and management documents to ensure consistency in the spirit of the Prime Minister's direction. Photo: Tien Dong

After listening to the opinions of representatives of ministries and local authorities, concluding at the conference, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The affirmed that, following the direction of the Prime Minister, all roads no longer distinguish between green and yellow lanes. Wherever there is a road, all vehicles are allowed to go. As long as the vehicle has a QR code, it will be allowed to circulate. The authorities will strengthen post-inspection work.

Minister Nguyen Van The also requested localities to soon reach an agreement on epidemic prevention and control in transportation activities. Unify regulations and guidelines for implementing processes and procedures for controlling people and means of transport in the localities. Actively support businesses transporting agricultural products to border gates and between regions in the domestic market. Localities also need to develop plans to prioritize Covid-19 vaccination for drivers and those who travel frequently to limit the risk of spreading the disease.

Comrade Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the meeting at the People's Committee of Nghe An province.

In Nghe An, up to now, the Department of Transport has received 14,342 applications for Certificates of Priority Operation on Green Lanes, of which, it has approved and issued Certificates with QR codes to 11,698 vehicles, refused to issue Certificates to 2,408 unqualified vehicles and is awaiting approval for 236 cases.