The Da Nang Food Safety Management Board has worked with many localities across the country to develop a safe food supply chain for the city as well as boost their cooperation for consumption of organic agricultural products due to the fact that locally sourced food only meet 10-20% of the city’s demand for such products.

Since 2017, the Municipal Food Safety Management Board has signed a cooperation agreement with the Tien Giang Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on the production and consumption of organic fruits and safe seafood products between the two localities. Under the agreement, an organic food supply chain for Da Nang has been developed, and it has seen the participation of such suppliers from Tien Giang Province as Tan Dong Organic Vegetable Cooperative, Go Cong Organic Vegetable Cooperative, and Thanh Hung Organic Vegetable Cooperative. In addition, memoranda of co-operation between 17 agricultural businesses in the two localities have signed for organic consumption. Furthermore, the volume of organic fruits transported from 94 suppliers of Tien Giang Province to the Hoa Cuong wholesale Market is estimated at 1,750 tons per month, accounting for 35-40% of the city’s whole fruits sourced from other parts of the country.

The cooperation agreements between Da Nang and Tien Giang Province have faciliated the two localities to promote their brand effectively, increase sales of their locally produced agricultural, forestry and fishing products, organic produce from local farmers and others under the national programme of 'One Commune, One Product' (OCOP). Besides, channels for information exchange and coordination in managing agricultural, forestry and fishing products, and managing food safety as a whole, to minimize the risk of foodborne illness. Thus, safe food handling practices and procedures are implemented at every stage of the food production life cycle in order to curb health hazards during their journey through the supply chain. Moreover, managing food safety aims to implement product traceability which is the ability to identify, track and trace elements of a product as it moves along the supply chain from raw goods to finished products.

Mr. Trinh Cong Minh, the Deputy Director of the Tien Giang Provincial Department of Industry and Rural Development said that Tien Giang boasts the largest area under fruit farming in the Mekong Delta as its fruit gardens cover over 80,000 hectares of land, with various specialty fruits. He added that Tien Giang wants to futher strenghthen bilateral cooperation with Da Nang to bring more organic fruits to tourists and local residents in Da Nang at a reasonable price.

According to the Municipal Food Safety Management Board, Da Nang annually consumes about 62,000 tons of vegetables, 48,000 tons of fruits, 44,200 tons of all meat from livestock and poultry, 87,000 tons of wild-caught seafood,  and 4,000 tons of farmed seafood. However, due to the city’s small-scale agricultural production, the annual local produce only meets less than 10% of the city’ demand for vegetables, 15-20% for animal meat, and more than 20 % for farmed seafaood. Hence, nearly 90% of the city's agricultural products and food for the demand of local residents are sourced from other parts of the country.

In recent year, the Municipal Food Safety Management Board has signed agreements with such localities as Lam Dong, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Quang Nam, Tien Giang, Vinh Long, and Binh Dinh for buying organic agricultural products for the city. These agreements have delivered mutual benefits for suppliers and buyers as Da Nang's buyers have increased their access to safe and healthy food while suppliers or producers have increased sales of their products and promote their brand to Da Nang’s consumers.

Mr. Nguyen Tan Hai, the Head of the Municipal Food Safety Management Board, said that the Board is exerting every effort to ensure that food items local residents buy are safe to consume with clearly labelled sources of origin.

He also remarked that the agreements between Da Nang and suppliers from other parts of the country faciliated their coordination to ensure food safety and implement product traceability in an attempt to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, thereby contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, and sustainable development.

Reporting by PHAN CHUNG – translating by H.L