Increase control over the agricultural supply chain.

From data-driven regulations governing the entire production process under Decree 280 of the Chinese customs agency, to South Korea's requirements for digitizing certification standards, and the new seafood traceability mechanism in the US, supply chain control is becoming a common trend in global agricultural trade.

Inspecting durians before export at Chanh Thu Fruit Import-Export Group Joint Stock Company. (Photo: Provided by Chanh Thu Group)

This poses a significant challenge for Vietnam's agricultural sector in shaping a new, transparent, and comprehensive management approach.

Changes to the compliance assessment process.

According to the Vietnam National Notification and Inquiry Office on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Decree 280 on the registration and management of imported food manufacturers abroad, issued by the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), will officially take effect from June 1st, replacing Decree 248 (Order 248). This not only changes administrative procedures but also represents a significant shift in how China manages imported food safety, moving from document-based inspection to risk-based management and supply chain data.

According to Mr. Nguyen Quy Duong, Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection ( Ministry of Agriculture and Environment ), GACC will apply a comprehensive assessment mechanism to businesses producing, processing, and storing imported food abroad through a "multi-level risk" approach.

Specifically, authorities will consider multiple factors simultaneously, from the origin of raw materials and production-processing procedures to historical data on food safety and consumption methods.

Furthermore, post-registration monitoring mechanisms have been tightened. Under the new regulations, GACC can directly or delegate to relevant agencies the assessment of businesses through various methods, such as written inspections, video inspections, on-site inspections, etc. Thus, businesses exporting to China will have to maintain continuous compliance because control is not only implemented at the end point but throughout the entire production chain.

Meanwhile, in the Korean market, the revised Food Sanitation Act (Act No. 21299), issued by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), will officially take effect on December 31, 2026. A key change is the shift in the management method of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) food safety certification system from a paper-based system to a digital platform.

Accordingly, MFDS will establish an "Integrated Food Safety Certification Standard Management System" that allows for the collection, analysis, storage, and provision of all information related to HACCP certification of businesses. At the same time, the regulatory authority has the right to request facilities applying HACCP to provide data for integration into the system, thereby enabling more synchronized and comprehensive inspection and evaluation.

Regarding the US market, Ms. Le Hang, Deputy Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Processing and Export (VASEP), stated that since the beginning of March 2026, regulatory agencies have continued to strengthen control over the origin of imported seafood through the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP). Importers must provide complete information on the origin of harvesting and farming; fishing vessels; fishing areas; and the entire transportation chain. This data will be stored on the electronic system of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for monitoring and verification when necessary, placing increasingly stringent compliance requirements on exporting businesses.

Normalize data across the entire chain.

In the face of tightening and increased control over the entire production, distribution and Regarding agricultural exports, by the end of 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment had launched the Vietnam Agricultural Product Traceability System, piloting it with durian from January 1, 2026. By early April, at the Huu Nghi International Border Gate (Lang Son), the first shipment of durian applying the "green channel" process based on the whole-chain traceability system was cleared through customs.

According to Mr. Le Minh Tam, Director of Thien Tam Agricultural Products Trading Co., Ltd. - the company whose first shipment was cleared through the "green channel" process - the fundamental change is shifting traceability back to the beginning of the production chain. Traceability labels are attached directly to the fruit stem during harvesting. Afterward, the products are transported to the packaging facility for sorting, QR codes are affixed to each carton, identification codes are assigned to containers, and electronic documentation is completed.

However, some businesses argue that, for widespread implementation across various product categories, this process still needs further refinement. In reality, affixing labels directly at the farm can incur significant costs, as not all harvested products meet export standards after sorting. This necessitates more careful consideration of data standardization processes to ensure both economic efficiency and transparency.

As one of the major export sectors to the US, South Korea, and China, seafood is also facing high demands for innovation in data management throughout the supply chain. To avoid export disruptions, VASEP expert Tran Hoang Yen suggests that businesses need to review and standardize their entire documentation system towards electronic processing, ensuring quick traceability for each batch, each stage, and each control point; proactively work with import partners to agree on the structure of documents, forms, and methods of providing data when requested; and re-check the consistency between HACCP records, quality records, traceability records, and export records.

From a state management perspective, in January 2026, the Government issued Decree No. 37/2026/NDCP detailing some provisions and measures to organize and guide the implementation of the Law on Product and Goods Quality, including the deployment of digital product passports and electronic labels for goods, including agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products, in order to establish a traceability mechanism based on electronic data and a unique identification code for each product.

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/gia-tang-kiem-soat-chuoi-cung-ung-nong-san-3408155.html