Hanoi (VNA) – For years, production and packaging unit codes have served as the mandatory "passport" for Vietnamese farm produce exports.
That passport is now being scrutinised like never before. A rapid surge in durian, banana, mango and dragon fruit shipments has triggered tougher regulatory demands, with importing markets imposing increasingly stringent rules on plant quarantine, food safety, and traceability.
The Government has responded with Decree 38/2026/ND-CP, governing the import of plants with growing media as well as the management of production and packaging unit codes. The move is designed to standardise procedures, boost transparency and tighten State oversight of export-oriented agriculture to support sustainable growth.
A key tool for quality control
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MoAE), Vietnam issued 9,546 production unit codes and 1,525 packaging unit codes for major overseas markets as of May 2026. Of these, 4,323 production unit codes and 1,332 packaging unit codes have been cleared for China.
But breakneck expansion has come with compliance risks. Since 2025, Chinese authorities have issued non-compliance warnings for 403 production unit codes and 240 packaging unit codes, leading to the suspension or revocation of 167 and 99 codes, respectively.
Regulators said some localities chased code numbers while neglecting post-certification oversight, treating record-keeping, traceability, pest management and pesticide controls as box-ticking formalities rather than hard quality assurance measures. The result has been a string of warnings and suspensions that have disrupted shipments.
To fix that, the new decree sets clear procedures for suspending, revoking, and reinstating codes, complete with documentation requirements and timelines.
Local authorities take front line
According to the MoAE, code management has been progressively decentralised over several years through sector-specific rules and administrative guidance. Under that setup, the ministry is responsible for issuing regulations and technical guidelines, organising training, building databases, negotiating market access and coordinating post-certification inspections. Local authorities, meanwhile, review applications, carry out on-site checks, issue codes and oversee compliance.
Before the decree issuance, the system rested largely on administrative guidance rather than a unified legal framework, leading to uneven rollout, particularly on post-certification monitoring, inter-agency coordination and enforcement.
The new decree puts provincial People’s Committees squarely in charge of issuing and managing codes, directing inspections, compliance monitoring, post-certification audits and violation settlement, and arranging adequate staffing and budgets to get it done.
At a recent national conference on the decree implementation, participants made clear that local authorities are the first line of defence for the integrity of Vietnam’s coding system. They must beef up specialised agencies, tighten coordination among the agricultural sector, police, market surveillance and grassroots authorities, and crack down on code leasing, misuse, fraudulent documents and breaches of importing-country rules.
Beyond clarifying responsibilities and strengthening governance, the decree also lays the groundwork for a modernised and digitalised management system with integrated data sharing. This aligns with the Politburo's Resolution 57-NQ/TW, which identifies science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation as strategic breakthroughs essential to improving productivity, growth quality, and national competitiveness./.
