Minister Le Minh Hoan: ‘There is a need for a revolution in agriculture

– In the last days of the year, thousands of agricultural products are still stuck at the border gate waiting to be exported to China. With the role of state management, what solutions does the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development offer to support the people?

– The congestion of agricultural products at the border gate is not new, but this year is the most stressful situation. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, ministries, branches and localities have recommended to limit and regulate the delivery of goods to the border gate, and at the same time have phone conversations with the Chinese side to negotiate to open the door and increase the time. customs clearance.

We also recommend that the Government and the Prime Minister consider priority policies according to local recommendations such as disinfection and inspection of goods; supporting localities to invest in border gate infrastructure, warehousing, transshipment, logistics and agricultural product preservation centers.

Localities need to quickly review, survey and set up a buffer zone for goods to be exchanged with China to manage and strictly control the situation of the Covid-19 epidemic, isolate people and goods infected with Covid-19 right at the beginning. buffer zone, not to detect at the boundary point leading to “immediate border closure”.

Looking at agricultural vehicles that had to be lowered to sell on the spot at a cheap price, or abandoned to turn around, I was very sad. Recently, after having a phone conversation between the Prime Minister of Vietnam and the Prime Minister of China, the two sides have better coordination. Hopefully the congestion will gradually decrease in the near future.

– Agricultural products are stuck at the border gate, causing many drivers and traders to dump them. What should be done to remedy this situation?

– The idea of ​​a multi-functional complex at the border gate to gather, preserve, preliminarily process and package for export to the Chinese market was proposed by us to the Government and Prime Minister. If there is not a multi-functional agricultural, forestry and fishery transaction center, it is easy to lead to the situation that the more production, the greater the risk because the goods are congested and cannot be consumed as is happening.

With the support of the Government, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is discussing with Quang Ninh province and related ministries and branches to soon implement the project of the Center for Trade in Commodities, Agriculture, Forestry, and Forestry. Asia-Pacific seafood in Mong Cai city, in the form of socialization. The effectiveness of the project will be the basis for considering and considering deploying similar complexes in Lang Son, Lao Cai…

This multi-functional complex makes an important contribution to the development of border economy, both managing the market, reorganizing the team involved in loading and unloading, as well as an area for businesses to bring goods to preserve and pack. , processing … Even the stage of quarantine of goods from specialized Chinese units can be done only once here. Eligible goods will not be subject to the current two-way quarantine, which is both complicated and time-consuming.

In addition to the above short-term measures, the most important is the system of long-term mechanisms and policies. In which, there is multi-sectoral connection and inter-sectoral coordination, from production, processing, transportation, supply chain, goods circulation to import and export management.

– To review the work of the Agriculture sector in 2021, the Prime Minister asked to diversify export markets and promote official regulations because “cannot rely on the open road forever”. How will the Department implement this request?

– Official export is identified as a sustainable solution in trade with China. Businesses and traders are gradually paying more attention to exporting goods to the Chinese market in this form (buying and selling under contracts with specific and detailed transaction conditions, clear delivery and delivery. , delivery at international border gates, main border gates …). In fact, in the most difficult times, official export is more or less guaranteed, while unofficial export has many potential risks.

In the coming time, the Ministry of Agriculture will continue to negotiate with China to gradually move towards official quotas. This issue needs persistence, because in order to become official, agricultural products must be reorganized in the raw material areas, not to the border and then grouped into official and minor quotas.

In addition, the authorities will promptly analyze market information, including: technical standards, regulations on customs clearance of goods, harvest season of agricultural products that China can produce. exportable. The ministry also enhanced awareness raising for people, switching from unofficial to official quota to reduce risks.

Currently, although agricultural products exported to China still account for the largest proportion, other markets show great growth potential. In which, the EU is one of the major export markets for agricultural products, accounting for 13.7% of the total export turnover of main agricultural products.

We are also drafting a project to diversify agricultural export markets based on advantages from trade agreements with the US, Japan, the European Union (EVFTA), the UK (UKVFTA), etc.

In order to reach deep and reach out to fastidious markets, Vietnamese agricultural products must meet many quality standards, which are not only delicious and beautiful, but also ensure the allowable residue of plant protection. The Agriculture sector will promote the attainment of agricultural product standards such as how?

– It is true that the market of developed countries requires very high quality agricultural products. When starting to export to the US, one of the conditions that they require is a production process that meets the requirements from seed, cultivation, care, pest control, and a certain amount of preservatives. management, residues of plant protection substances in fruits…. Their experts will come to check, evaluate and issue a planting area code.

Not only the US and EU markets, but also the Chinese market also have high requirements for product quality. Therefore, we will go to each locality to guide standardization of raw material areas, change both practices and habits of breeding and cultivation, improve quality, trace product origin, growing area code, area code for farming, packing…

There needs to be a revolution in each locality, the field, the farmer. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, together with relevant agencies and commercial counselors of countries in Vietnam, has developed a project to standardize raw material areas for export through each market. The ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, Industry and Trade, and Foreign Affairs, together with foreign counselors, have also established alliances of enterprises exporting agricultural products to markets to sit down and discuss export strategies. agricultural exports.

If you want to access any market, you need to study the consumption habits of the people there, like the Chinese like the red flesh dragon fruit of Vietnam but some other countries like the white flesh dragon fruit. From there, find ways to take care of and improve product quality.

– Some experts say that Vietnam exports a lot of agricultural products, but it seems that the products are still “anonymous”. What do you think about this idea?

– Vietnam currently has more than 10 key export agricultural products, present in 160 countries and territories. In which, some products have an export value of more than one billion USD such as coffee, rice, cashew, seafood, rubber, vegetables, wood and wooden furniture… However, compared with the potential, the quantity of agricultural products Vietnam’s exports are still quite small, due to uneven product quality, not meeting the requirements of the fastidious market.

In 2019, ST25 rice was awarded the world’s best rice award after surpassing Thai and Cambodian rice at the World’s Best Rice contest. Central Highlands coffee, Can Tho rice, Dong Giao pineapple, Ido longan, Cat Chu mango, Phu Quoc pepper, Lao Cai banana, Shan Tuyet, O Long, Tan Cuong tea… are Vietnamese agricultural products favored by world consumers. favored.

So saying “anonymous” is somewhat inaccurate, but this is also what I worry about. We export a lot, but 90% of it is in raw form. After being imported, foreign enterprises process and use their names and brands. 80% of our agricultural products have not built a brand, no logo or label.

I want Vietnamese agricultural products to be located, not be anonymous forever. To do so, farmers must consider agricultural products and food not only as raw products but also need to convey cultural stories, emotions and images. Individuals and businesses need to pay more attention to legal issues, commercialization, international regulations … to ensure their rights when participating in the “playing field”, the global market.

According to VnExpress.net