On December 15th 2022, the Safe Food for Growth (SAFEGRO) team had a very productive meeting with the National Numbering and Barcodes Center (NBC), which also functions as the Vietnamese member organization of the global supply chain standards body GS1. The organization has been tasked with implementing the Vietnam National Traceability Portal (VNTP) and coordinating this work with all 63 provinces and Ministries. Funded by Global Affairs Canada, the SAFEGRO team explored the opportunity to collaborate with the GS1 Vietnam team for traceability guidelines of the selected value chain in our project. Especially the technical guideline for the traceability of pork and vegetable value chains to ensure alignment with international traceability standards.
In this meeting, GS1 Vietnam introduced the evolution of their organization and its significant role in digital transformation in Vietnam. The team also introduced the test version of the VNTP interface, and we both discussed how the traceability approach of SAFEGRO’s value chains could fit with the VNTP platform direction.
This is a fascinating time for Vietnam and the food industry as the Prime Minister’s directive (Directive No. 02/CT-TTg, 26/04/2022) sets out significant reform and a move towards digital transformation, enhanced resilience and transparency, and trust in supply chains.