International standard meat processing: 50% of workers fired for being 'lazy' to learn

"The arduous path to achieving international clean meat standards requires human reform and a roadmap. I personally had to fire 50% of my workers to be granted GlobalGAP certification."

Mr. Nguyen Van Ngoc, Vice President of the Southeast Livestock Association, shared this on the sidelines of the Workshop on enhancing the role of safe management of the animal feed supply chain recently organized by the Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods Enterprises.

Mr. Ngoc said that the certification process was very difficult because he had not studied it before. Approaching international experts with more than 300 livestock standards that must be memorized and followed is not something that every farm owner or manager can do.

The process of raising livestock to ensure food safety according to international standards is not simple.

But in return, those who meet advanced GlobalGAP standards will receive a special offer: “Unannounced surprise inspections”. Mr. Ngoc’s statement sounds like a joke, but in fact, information about these farms after surprise inspections will be posted online. At that time, large corporations and the entire world consumer community will know.

“That benefit is many times greater than a certificate or badge. Only weak methods that follow formalities require advance notice to prepare for the inspection,” Mr. Ngoc shared.

Mr. Ngoc’s chicken farm itself had to eliminate 50% of its workers because they refused to learn or could not learn. “International certification requires human resources to meet standards in both awareness and behavior. Because when checking, they ask the workers, not the farm owner,” Mr. Ngoc said.

The second difficulty is having a standard farm. Mr. Ngoc said that when hiring an international consultant, it took 18 months to complete the entire process. The cost of the international consultant alone was about 15,000 USD for one farm.

The farm must also meet standards for the licensing agency to evaluate it as GlobalGAP. Repairs and renovations cost billions of dollars to convert from a “boarding house to a hotel”.

The cost of investing in barns is very expensive. The farm must also meet standards for the licensing agency to evaluate it as meeting GlobalGAP.

“The whole country has almost no standard model, but there are many mandatory criteria to follow. The policy must plan at least one model for each province for everyone to follow,” Mr. Ngoc suggested.

A third difficulty is that the consulting unit as well as the certification unit must be in sync because each stage is currently independent. “To have clean and standard meat, there must be a roadmap and a change in the mindset of the breeder, it cannot be rushed,” said Mr. Ngoc.

Sharing the idea of ​​consistency, Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc, in charge of the quality management system of Co May Company, said that currently, 90% of Vietnamese enterprises have to rely on consulting experts.

But it is not certain whether the consultant himself understands all the industry standards or the actual situation in the locality. The enterprise itself must explore and learn through documents.

“There have been examples of consultants saying it is correct but the certification body saying it is incorrect. The HVNCLC Business Association needs to organize more consulting classes for businesses,” Mr. Phuoc suggested.

Slaughterhouses must ensure food safety and hygiene.

Ms. Vu Kim Hanh, President of the Association of Vietnamese High-quality Enterprises, said that even if the enterprise "sings 6 vọng cổ songs", the Association must listen to share and help other units avoid the hardships that those who have gone before "have to cross the bridge to know".

The set of criteria for High Quality Vietnamese Goods - New Integration Standards recently developed by the Association of High Quality Vietnamese Goods Enterprises is also for domestic enterprises to approach international standards in the context of integration that requires fierce competition.

According to Dan Viet Newspaper