Domestic products need more support

HANOI: It is necessary to develop policies to encourage domestic distribution systems to give priority to selling products made by local producers who are making an effort to promote green and circular production and business ethics, experts say.

According to Tran Van Lieng, chairman of Vietnam Quality Association of Ho Chi Minh City, domestic distribution systems should recognise suppliers of green products.

He said that cocoa exports to Europe will have to meet the European Union’s (EU) deforestation regulation starting from December 2024. If cocoa from Vietnamese manufacturers can meet such requirements, he questioned if they should be given priority in the domestic distribution system.

There are more and more locally made products which have high levels of creativity and intelligence integrated with ethical and environmental standards, he said, adding that these products should be given a plus point on the domestic distribution system.

Le Thi Minh Trang, national hygiene and quality director of Central Retail Vietnam said that strict quality control from the beginning as well as through the entire supply chain is very important.

Quality control will help raise awareness and responsibility of suppliers to standardise their production and entire distribution process to establish sustainable supply chains, Trang said.

Still, it is not easy.

Bui Trung Kien, director of Xuan Thai Thinh Co in Lam Dong Province which is exporting to highly demanding markets like Japan and the EU, said that enterprises are still facing obstacles when putting their products into the domestic distribution system despites meeting foreign standards.Unfair competition is one of the major obstacles.

Tran Kim Yen, deputy head of the steering committee for the campaign “Vietnamese people give priority to using Vietnamese goods” said there are no reasons for Vietnamese goods to lose in the home market while they can stand firm abroad.

The most important solution is to promote links between production and distribution, she added.

According to Nguyen Viet Dung, country chief executive of testing and certification firm Bureau Veritas Vietnam, leaders of supply chains play an important role in motivating farmers and producers to meet quality standards. — Viet Nam News/ANN