Tracing the origin of agricultural products: The “key” to open the door to the world

Give your products wings to go far

Bac Ninh has an agricultural land area of about 184,000 hectares, of which fruit trees account for nearly 54,000 hectares with a value of more than 7,400 billion VND/year. Main fruits such as lychee, longan, orange, grapefruit, custard-apple... are currently available in many markets. One of the factors that helps Bac Ninh agricultural products open up to the world is the traceability system.

Harvesting agricultural products at Yen Dung Clean Vegetable Cooperative.

Yen Dung Clean Vegetable Cooperative specializes in producing and trading clean vegetables, tubers and fruits in the direction of high-tech agriculture with a system of greenhouses and net houses of more than 30 hectares, automatic irrigation and fertilization systems using Israeli technology. To build prestige and brand for the unit, the Cooperative always attaches importance to transparency of information about the production process, so it proactively registers growing area codes for many key products such as baby cucumbers, chili peppers, queen melons, etc. When accessing the products, customers only need to use their mobile phones to scan the QR code to know all the information about the origin and care process. Ms. Tran Thi Kim Trang, Deputy Director of the Cooperative, shared that on average, each month, the unit supplies the market with more than 600 tons of vegetables, tubers and fruits, mainly to restaurants, businesses, schools and supermarket systems in and outside the province, with total revenue reaching about 35 - 40 billion VND/year.

Aiming for a civilized and modern agricultural production, many production and business establishments in the province have also registered with the competent authority to issue codes and barcodes (Department of Science and Technology; General Department of Standards, Metrology and Quality under the Ministry of Science and Technology ) to trace the origin of their products. This is considered a "digital passport" to help products participate in the export market, increasing the value of agricultural products.

Affirming reputation, increasing value

Bac Ninh is known as the capital of lychee and many high-quality fruit trees. For lychee alone, the whole province has been granted 240 growing area codes, with a total area of over 17,400 hectares and 42 packing facility codes. Among these are many export area codes. Thanks to the "digital passport", the export output of lychee in 2025 will reach more than 78,000 tons, accounting for 38% of the total output, of which the province's lychee is present in many demanding markets such as Europe and the United States; sold in large supermarket chains such as Safeway, Costco, Selgros, Rungis Market, etc.

Staff of the Center for Supporting Cooperative Development (Provincial Cooperative Union) introduces OCOP products with QR codes and barcodes to help consumers trace their origin. Photo: Thanh Nam.

To ensure publicity and transparency of information on agricultural products, in recent times, the Provincial People's Committee has always paid attention to implementing many support policies for the subjects. Currently, the province is implementing the Project to deploy, apply and manage the traceability system in the province for the period 2021-2025, striving to have at least 30% of enterprises, cooperatives, production, business and service establishments in the province use codes and barcodes, have traceability systems applying national and international standards; 100% of export products and goods belonging to key, typical, potential and OCOP groups are applied the traceability system.

According to the Department of Science and Technology, in recent times, the unit has promoted propaganda, guidance, and created accounts for groups and individuals to apply traceability on the provincial and national Traceability Portal. In addition, implementing the Project to support the development of sustainable fruit tree production in the province for the period 2021-2025, the Department of Agriculture and Environment and localities also provide technical support for entities to standardize safe and sustainable production processes, build production areas that meet GlobalGAP and organic standards, and support the digitization of growing areas. As of August 2025, the province has 404 growing area codes, with an area of over 18,800 hectares and 43 packaging facilities that have been granted export codes.

As of August 2025, the province has 404 growing area codes, including 240 lychee growing area codes, with a total area of over 17,400 hectares and 42 packing facility codes. Among these are many export area codes. Thanks to the "digital passport", the export output of lychee in 2025 will reach more than 78,000 tons, accounting for 38% of the total output, of which the province's lychee is present in many demanding markets such as Europe and the United States; sold in large supermarket chains such as Safeway, Costco, Selgros, Rungis Market, etc.

Despite initial results, the application of traceability of agricultural products still faces many difficulties. Mr. Le Ba Thanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, said that some strong fruit trees such as apples, guavas, oranges, and grapefruits have been planned and directed to be planted in concentrated areas, but the production area is still limited, basically intercropping many fruit trees. In addition, the cost of granting certificates for production meeting VietGAP, GlobalGAP, and organic safety standards is still high, requiring high technical requirements and investment in care, while the selling price of agricultural products applying this standard is not much higher than that of mass production. This makes farmers not really interested without the support of the State. In fact, Bac Ninh currently does not have large enterprises investing in crop production, business, processing, especially deep processing of agricultural products. Many households are not familiar with keeping electronic diaries and following standard procedures, so managing growing area codes is difficult. These are gaps that need to be filled soon so that key agricultural products can be strictly controlled from production to processing, expanding consumption markets, and helping to increase value.

Faced with that challenge, Bac Ninh province has developed a Plan to implement the Traceability Project for the 2026-2030 period with the goal that by 2030, 100% of organizations and individuals producing key products, OCOP, and eligible export goods will apply traceability. The key solutions set out by the province include: Completing mechanisms and policies, reviewing documents, issuing regulations to encourage the application of blockchain, AI, and Big Data technology in traceability; having tax incentives and capital support policies for businesses to invest in modern technology.

At the conference to discuss solutions to promote safe agricultural production and expand export markets organized by the Provincial People's Committee on August 18, Comrade Pham Van Thinh, Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation emphasized the necessity of implementing traceability for each product, household producing and trading key agricultural products. Bac Ninh province is opening up and implementing many preferential policies on land and taxes to attract investors to build infrastructure for deep processing of agricultural products in industrial parks and clusters. Directing the expansion of crop areas according to safety standards (VietGAP, GlobalGAP, organic) to create a chain linked with traceability, meeting domestic consumption and export requirements.

Traceability is not only a mandatory requirement when exporting agricultural products but also the "key" for Bac Ninh to build its brand, enhance competitiveness, and build a transparent and modern agriculture. When the entire production process is transparent, domestic and foreign consumers can trace, local products will stand firmer in the market, opening the door for agricultural products to reach the world. In the coming time, the provincial and local authorities will continue to disseminate and raise awareness among people, cooperatives, and businesses about traceability of agricultural products. Promote support and consultation for organizations and individuals to build safe product supply chains; exploit and effectively use the provincial Traceability Information Portal and the National Product and Goods Traceability Information Portal.

Mai Toan

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/truy-xuat-nguon-goc-nong-san-chia-khoa-mo-canh-cua-ra-the-gioi-postid425202.bbg