Nghe An tightens management of agricultural, forestry and fishery product quality

The first 5 months of 2025 is the time of high food consumption, focusing on the occasion of Lunar New Year and Spring Festival 2025; Action Month onfood safetyduring the tourist season and national holidays. Since then, the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development of Nghe An province has strengthened measures to manage and control food quality in the market.

Strengthening the quality management of agriculture, forestry and fishery products

As the unit assigned to manage quality and food safety (FS) in the agricultural sector,Nghe An Province Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development hasAdvise the Department of Agriculture and Environment to submit to the Provincial People's Committee to promptly issue directive documents, such as: Advise the Provincial People's Committee to issue an Action Plan to ensure food safety, increase processing and develop the market for agricultural, forestry and fishery products; Decide to establish an interdisciplinary inspection team on food safety quality during the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival in 2025, advise the Department of Agriculture and Environment to issue many documents directing the management of agricultural, forestry and fishery product quality; promote propaganda, coordinate with central and local newspapers and radio stations to make reports, bridge farmers; produce and distribute news on food safety; hang banners, slogans, leaflets; organize 53 training courses on food safety knowledge for 2,014 people who are owners and workers, producers and traders of agricultural, forestry and fishery products in the province.

The unit also chaired the interdisciplinary inspection team on food safety quality during the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival in 2025, participated in the interdisciplinary inspection team on food safety quality during the "Food Safety Action Month", and at the same time, established 8 inspection teams at units under the department, inspected nearly 400 establishments, fined 4 establishments with a total amount of 42 million VND; issued 103 Certificates of Food Safety Eligibility.

At workquality managementFood Safety, the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development has coordinated promptly with relevant authorities, thereby detecting and handling establishments producing and trading agricultural, forestry and fishery products.

Typically, when receiving information about violations in bean sprout production using 6-Benzylaminopurine in Dak Lak province, the Department promptly directed professional and technical staff to grasp the production situation at bean sprout production facilities in the province, provide information, and coordinate with the Provincial Police Investigation Agency to monitor and investigate the use of banned substances in bean sprout production at a number of bean sprout production facilities in Vinh city.

During the investigation, the Provincial Police Investigation Agency prosecuted 3 establishments with 4 subjects producing bean sprouts in Vinh city for violating the use of banned substances in the bean sprout production process; confiscated about 25,000 kg of bean sprouts, 25 liters of pure "candy water" chemical solution (scientific name is 6-Benzylaminopurine (6-BAP)) and 150 liters of mixed solution to serve the production. The unit coordinated with the People's Committee of Vinh Tan ward, Vinh city to inspect and supervise a number of bamboo shoot production establishments in the ward.

Building a brand of quality, safe products

Nghe An has a large agricultural production scale, producing nearly 170,000 hectares of rice each year; more than 22,500 hectares of peanuts, beans, corn; 8,760 hectares of tea; nearly 21,000 hectares of fruit trees, 41,556 hectares of vegetables, tubers, fruits... Along with that is a system of 987 livestock farms with a total herd of nearly 2 million buffaloes, cows, pigs; 37 million poultry, total output of fresh meat for slaughter is over 287 tons/year; output of fishing and aquaculture is 287,500 tons/year. In the province, there are 24,659 establishments producing and trading agricultural, forestry and fishery products.

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To improve the quality of agricultural, forestry and fishery products, in addition to promoting inspection and examination, the issue of producing quality food right from the source is extremely important. We will continue to focus on supporting production, processing and trading establishments to apply clean production, safe production, improve product quality and build brands, product designs and traceability to meet the increasing demands of consumers, thereby creating a stable and valuable consumption market for Nghe An agricultural, forestry and fishery products.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ha - Head of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development of Nghe An province.

Every year, the Department focuses on identifying key agricultural, forestry and fishery products with large market supply sources in the province, in order to support and transfer production processes accordingly.good practice standards(VietGAP, HACCP, ISO,...). Since the beginning of the year, units under the Agriculture and Environment sector have supported localities and production facilities with 15 production models according to VietGAP and HACCP standards on rice, vegetable, pineapple, tea, meat processing, agricultural products, etc. Through model support, nearly 500 households producing and processing agricultural, forestry and fishery products have been guided to master the principles and processes of clean food production.

Thanks to the efforts of specialized units and localities, the management of food safety and quality of agricultural, forestry and fishery products has been strengthened, product quality has been improved, and the proportion of deeply processed products has been increasing. Producers have gradually paid attention to the issue of brand building, product design, and traceability.

Mr. Nguyen Thai Tuan - Head of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development, said: Up to now, the Department of Agriculture and local districts and communes have issued Food Safety Certificates or equivalent (HACCP, ISO 22000...) to thousands of establishments, of which nearly 1,800 certificates of establishments meeting food safety conditions have been issued; at the same time, food safety commitments have been signed for nearly 4,000 establishments producing and trading agricultural, forestry and fishery products.

Along with continuing to promote synchronous solutions from strengthening communication work, improving management capacity, inspection and handling of violations, one content that the Department has focused on for many years is supporting and developing safe food production models according to value chains. In the first months of the year, the unit coordinated to deploy training on good agricultural production processes according to VietGAP standards at the vegetable, root and fruit production model of Song Lam 37 Agricultural Products Company Limited (Trung Son commune, Do Luong district) and the rice production model for the Tao Son rice production cooperative, Anh Son district.

"In the coming time, we will continue to manage food safety according to assignment and decentralization, strengthen inspection, examination and strictly handle violations; compile statistics and reviewproduction facilities,agricultural, forestry and fishery businesses in the area to promptly grasp and have management measures to prevent violations. At the same time, strengthen management and implementation of food safety commitments for establishments subject to signing commitments; propagate, disseminate and train knowledge on food safety and State regulations in implementing responsibilities for food production and business", said Mr. Nguyen Van Ha.