(BLC) - Gradually tightening the management of food hygiene and safety (FHS) for agricultural commodities, the specialized agencies from the provincial to the grassroots level are strengthening quality control to ensure that agricultural products are safe when circulated on the market.

Tam Duong Tea Investment and Development Joint Stock Company is known as the unit that created the Tam Duong tea brand with a range of pure clean tea products such as Oolong, Matcha, Sencha, Kim Tuyen and Oriental Beauty. To achieve this, the company pays close attention to everything from supplying seedlings and investing in the raw-material area to applying new techniques, harvesting, machinery and improving workers' skills.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan - Director of Tam Duong Tea Investment and Development Joint Stock Company confided: "To create clean tea products, right from the stage of clearing the ground cover, the company advises farmers not to use herbicides; to mainly use organic fertilizers and microbial fertilizers composted from agricultural by-products. During cultivation, the households are given technical guidance and are closely supervised by the company's staff as well as by the specialized officials of Tam Duong district."

In recent times, Than Uyen district has strengthened the management of farm-produce quality by directing the specialized agencies in the agricultural sector to coordinate with the relevant branches in regularly organizing inspections, supervision, classification and evaluation of food production and trading establishments in the area. It issues FHS knowledge certificates to individuals and organizations that need them and fall within the scope of management. It regularly carries out direct and indirect communication about FHS knowledge, as well as the circulars and guidelines of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on farm-produce quality management.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Than Uyen district shared: "The department advises the District People's Committee to establish an FHS Steering Committee; it coordinates with the communes and towns to conduct periodic inspections and regular supervision of establishments trading in agricultural supplies and agricultural products. In addition, it guides and supervises production and trading households in fulfilling their commitments, minimizing cases of FHS violations."

The tea raw-material area of Tam Duong Tea Investment and Development Joint Stock Company is always kept clean, from the stage of tending to the use of fertilizers.

At present, each year our province produces more than 216 thousand tons of food crops, over 6,771 tons of vegetables and tens of thousands of tons of various kinds of live-weight meat... Therefore, good management will contribute to improving the quality of farm produce and protecting the health of producers and consumers. The Provincial People's Committee directs the functional agencies to organize guidance on implementing the legal documents on food safety. It strengthens the inspection, evaluation and classification of establishments producing and trading in agricultural supplies and farm products. It organizes inspections and examinations of the regulations on the management of fertilizers, plant varieties and plant-protection products in the province.

Mr. Ha Quang Huy - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: "At present, in some areas, the production, trading and consumption of poor-quality agricultural supplies or counterfeit and imitation goods still occurs. Therefore, the agricultural sector has been and is deploying functional forces to review all establishments producing and trading in agricultural supplies and agricultural products; evaluating their compliance with the regulations on ensuring FHS. It is implementing the building of sustainable safe-food supply-chain models linked to planned concentrated areas, and building brands for the farm products of each locality."

For agricultural products to hold their ground on the market, the province is encouraging companies and enterprises to build, replicate and develop agricultural production models following the VietGAP safe-food chain. Applying safe agricultural production practices and expanding the scale of production in order to create safe products ever more regularly and in greater quantities. The functional agencies coordinate with the districts and city to step up communication, training and dissemination of FHS knowledge for those involved in the production, preliminary processing, processing, trading and consumption of agricultural food. 

In 2018, the province's specialized agencies organized 7 inspections and examinations of the regulations on the management of fertilizers, plant varieties and plant-protection products at 46 establishments; 16 establishments were found in violation. They organized 14 inspection and supervision sessions at 635 establishments collecting and supplying food; and issued 141 FHS knowledge certificates to 224 individuals...

It focuses on promoting communication and strengthening farm-produce quality management, helping raise the awareness of organizations and individuals regarding the use of antibiotics in livestock and aquaculture and preservative chemicals in cultivation. From there, it creates products that are truly safe before supplying them to consumers. Phuong Ly