VietGAP Certification — The Key for Expanding Agriculture Businesses
Officially becoming a participant of WTO in 2016 was a milestone for Vietnam economy in general and agriculture in particular. The increase of export turnover in the last decade partly indicates that there have been many positive changes in Vietnam exportation. However, the quantity of exported goods has not met the expectation due to strict barriers on imported product quality in the international market. Understanding this, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued its own set of standards under the name VietGAP.
What is VietGAP Certification?
VietGAP (Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices) is regulations on good agricultural practices in Vietnam, developed for each group of products in the fields of aquaculture, cultivation and livestock. VietGAP standards include principles, orders and procedures that guide organizations and individuals in the right practices of cultivation, harvest and post-harvest activities to ensure:
- Food hygiene and safety
- Product quality
- Social welfare
- Producers and consumers healthcare
- Environmental protection
- Traceability
Currently, VietGAP is one of the compulsory standards for Vietnamese agricultural products to enter domestic supermarkets.
Benefits of applying VietGAP Standards
For society: VietGAP certification is the affirmative message to Vietnamese product quality in the international market, due to the fact that Vietnamese brands can overcome technical barriers and quality requirements of import countries. Moreover, the application of VietGAP standard also innovates outdated agricultural practices, ensure people have access to food hygiene and safety, reduce social healthcare costs, improve life quality of Vietnamese as well as guarantee the sustainable development of society.
For farmers: VietGAP standards support farmers in controlling input quality in the supply chain such as soil, water, pesticides, etc.; allowing manufacturers to respond promptly to food hygiene and safety related issues. Manufacture facilities certified by VietGAP will be able to build trust with upstream and downstream partners, as well as regulatory authorities; thereby developing brand reputation and creating a stable consumption market.
For processing and exporting enterprises: Products with VietGAP certification will ensure output consumption, contribute to the increase of sales and brand reputation in consumers’ eyes. Moreover, by using guaranteed raw materials, the risk of products being banned or checked regularly when imported to other markets due to unsatisfied product quality will reduce.
For consumers: The biggest benefit of VietGAP is delivering qualified products that meet food safety and hygiene requirements to consumers; thereby, creating a generation of wise consumers who can identify good products through VietGAP certified marks, motivating farmers and manufacturers to constantly improve product quality, developing an advanced agriculture for society.
VietGAP Certification Process
In order to be granted a VietGAP certificate, farmers need to deeply research, analyse and apply the VietGAP process depending on the type of crops, then compare it with the VietGAP standards. Next, farmers can contact VietGAP certification organizations designated by the Department of Crop Production for instruction on registration and signing contracts.
Within 15 days of working after signing the contract, VietGAP certification organization will establish a team of experts to conduct the first inspection at the manufacturing site. And within no more than 10 days of working after the first inspection, the organization will issue VietGAP certificates to eligible farms or manufacturers.
The solution for rescuing agricultural products
Because of the erratic situation of the Covid-19 epidemic, China has tightened all import and export activities in order to control the disease and prevent spreading infection from abroad to the mainland. As a result, Vietnamese agricultural commodities have been congested at the border gates to China for a while. This led to a bad scenario for Vietnam agriculture, in which the localities exhorted to rescue the products.
The Minister of DARD, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Cuong said that the biggest export barrier for Vietnamese agricultural products is the requirements of standards, food hygiene and safety. China, the largest import market of Vietnamese agricultural commodities, is gradually becoming sterner with strict regulations. However, Vietnamese farmers still maintain traditional ideology and ignore the export criteria set by other countries.
The most important thing to do is to promote production and certification of VietGAP standards for farms in Vietnam. A typical example in recent years was lychee. Although at that time, China did not request but those Vietnamese lychees that were granted area code and cultivated based on VietGAP standards, were ordered quickly by China enterprises with competitive prices. Hence, VietGAP certification can be considered as the key to rescue agricultural products.
