The above fact was raised at the national online conference on “Orientation for Quality and Processing Works Related to the Development of Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries Market” organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Da Nang over the weekend .

The growth of deep-processed agricultural products is low

As of June 15, 2023, there were about 13,000 farms processing farms in the country. Including: 614 concentrated slaughterhouses, 5,229 establishments for the collection, pre-processing and processing of agricultural, forestry and fisheries food (across sectors); 3,369 establishments process and process products of plant origin provisionally, almost 4,000 establishments process and process products of terrestrial origin.

According to Mr. Ngo Hong Phong, deputy director of the department of quality, processing and market development of agricultural products, although the number of processing enterprises in agriculture, forestry and fisheries in our country is quite large, the processing level is only new medium and small. In addition, processing depends on the season, so most factories are not working at full capacity, and sometimes not all products have been consumed during the season, so there is still a good harvest.

As for the large-scale processing plants of forest products related to export, the country currently has more than 4,500 plants processing more than 40 million m3 of wood per year. The current structure of wood products includes: furniture (mainly for export) accounting for about 66%; Wood (shavings, logs, lumber, chips, plywood) accounts for about 22%, the rest being non-wood products of the forest (rattan, bamboo, cinnamon, anise…).

In the field of seafood processing, the total number of export-related industrial seafood processing plants is more than 850 plants at present; The total number of small businesses serving domestic consumption is about 3,500 businesses. In total, about 3 million tons of seafood are processed per year (equivalent to about 6 million tons of raw materials per year). Major aquatic products include: frozen seafood 80%; dried seafood accounts for 7%; fish sauce products accounted for 5%; Other products accounted for 8%. The value of processed products increased by an average of 5.1%/year.

Investments have been made in many large agricultural, forestry and fisheries processing plants, and modern technological equipment lines have been installed. In particular, in the period 2017-2022, construction of 76 large-scale agricultural products processing projects with an investment capital of over VND 73 trillion has started, many plants have been completed and started production. This shows the level of investment interest and development trend of the agricultural product processing industry in recent years.

HANDLING MAJOR DIFFERENCES IN EXPORT

In recent times, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has actively coordinated with ministries, branches and municipalities to focus on solving problems in Vietnam’s agricultural, forestry and fisheries exports.

In particular, compliance with the European Union Regulation on Combating Illegal Fishing (IUU); the U.S. Department of Agriculture Regulation Evaluating and Recognizing the Equivalency of Catfish Monitoring Programs; Saudi Arabia’s order to suspend imports of Vietnamese seafood products. Brazilian regulations on the registration of imported fish products do not allow the use of salt phosphate additives. Australia’s Strict Conditions for Imported Shrimp Products; Regulations 248, 249 of China…

Despite many efforts, Mr. Phong also pointed out some shortcomings and limitations in the quality control of agricultural products and the promotion of agricultural product processing. To date, only about 10-15% of the production of key agricultural and specialty products are subject to quality control and food safety at every stage and throughout the chain.

Although the rate of returned export shipments has fallen, it is still at a high level. The reason is that the horizontal links between production households, as well as the vertical links to purchasing, pre-processing, slaughtering, processing and trading companies are still very loose and unsustainable.

As for the processing capacity, Mr. Phong said it was not enough to meet the consumption of all the agricultural products produced in the season. The number of developing processing plants varies by region and is not related to the raw material source. As for the level of processing technology, the number of small and medium-sized processing enterprises and households in agriculture, forestry and fisheries still accounts for a large proportion, about 95% of the total number of processing enterprises. Most processing plants still mainly use old equipment, obsolete technical technology, consume large amounts of raw materials and energy, and have low productivity.

Post-harvest conservation is still a weak stage, resulting in high post-harvest losses of up to 10-20% (depending on the industry). As for the logistics of processing and consuming agricultural products, the cold supply chain is still insufficient and weak to serve different industries and markets.

In order to promote processing related to the development of agricultural, forestry and fisheries markets, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has established guidelines for 2023-2025 and will promote the organization of concentrated production of important products. national resources, local key products along the value chain related to digital transformation and high-tech applications. Employing the construction of concentrated material areas to meet food quality and safety requirements. Organize the issuance of codes for growing areas, agricultural areas and ponds to ensure traceability; Code of packaging establishments, labels of agricultural products. At the same time, the organization of trading activities, sales promotion and export links in market areas with good growth dynamics such as China, Japan and ASEAN are to be strengthened. Attend major international events in potential markets such as Italy, UK, Middle East, etc.

The content of the article was published in Vietnam Economic Review No. 27-2023 on July 3, 2023. Welcome readers to read below The:

https://postenp.phaha.vn/chi-tiet-toa-soan/tap-chi-king-te-viet-nam