Strongly reforming procedures to enhance competitiveness of agricultural products
On the morning of August 4th, in Hanoi, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment organized a conference to implement Resolution No. 36/2026/NQ-CP (Resolution 36) of the Government on simplifying administrative procedures in issuance and management of growing area and packaging facility codes. The conference was connected online to 34 provinces, cities, communes, wards, special zones and thousands of businesses, cooperatives and industry associations nationwide.
According to Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Resolution 36 is an important reform step aimed at removing long-standing bottlenecks in issuance of planting area and packaging facility codes – increasingly mandatory conditions for Vietnamese agricultural products to access export markets.
Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Hoang Hiep said that the Resolution was issued by the Government following a streamlined procedure and officially takes effect from August 1, 2026, focusing on two major goals: simplifying administrative procedures and creating maximum convenience for issuance of planting area and packaging facility codes. Issuance of the resolution demonstrates the Government's decisive direction in administrative reform, creating a more open investment and business environment for people and businesses.
At the same time, the Government has assigned Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to take the lead, in coordination with Ministry of Justice and other ministries, sectors and localities, in urgently amending Decree No. 38/2026/ND-CP towards comprehensively perfecting legal framework for managing planting area codes and packaging facilities. The amended decree is expected to be submitted to the Government in September 2026.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep stated that before drafting Resolution 36, the Ministry directly surveyed many localities, worked with businesses, cooperatives, industry associations, farmers and conducted on-site surveys at agricultural export border gates to listen to difficulties and obstacles.
"Ultimate goal of Resolution No. 36 is to enhance competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural products, build a common brand for Vietnamese agricultural products and create a more transparent and open management environment in resolving administrative procedures", the Deputy Minister emphasized, noting that Resolution 36 focuses on simplifying administrative procedures. More in-depth management content will continue to be refined during the revision of Decree 38.
Digitizing entire process, shortening the time for issuing codes
Presenting new points of Resolution 36, Mr. Huynh Tan Dat, Director of Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, said that all procedures for issuing codes for growing areas and packaging facilities will be carried out entirely electronically through National Public Service Portal.
Accordingly, organizations and individuals will follow principle of self-declaration and self-responsibility for the information provided. New management method enhances transparency, meets traceability requirements and significantly reduces the time and cost of procedures. A notable change is the shift from pre-inspection to post-inspection based on risk level. For cases not registered for export to markets requiring codes, management agency will apply a post-inspection mechanism. Only cases registered for export to markets requiring code approval will undergo pre-issuance inspection.
The resolution also strongly decentralizes power to local authorities by assigning commune-level People's Committees direct responsibility of receiving applications, issuing planting area codes, packaging facility codes and conducting post-inspection. This decentralization is implemented on a unified management system, accompanied by professional guidance, training and a monitoring mechanism from provincial-level specialized agencies and Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. In particular, the required documents have been reduced by approximately 50%, leaving only an application for code issuance. Citizens and businesses are no longer required to resubmit documents already in the shared database.
Procedure processing times have also been significantly shortened. For cases not involving export registration, processing time has been reduced from 14 days to 3 working days. For cases involving export registration to markets requiring codes, processing time is reduced to 10 days, a decrease of 4 days compared to before. The resolution also abolishes the regulation on minimum area requirements for granting planting area codes, and allows one planting area code to be applied to multiple plots of land and multiple farmers involved in production if they meet management and traceability requirements. According to Mr. Huynh Tan Dat, this regulation will encourage formation of large-scale concentrated raw material areas, reduce number of codes to be issued, and facilitate quality management and export.
Leaders of Ministry of Agriculture and Environment particularly emphasized the need to clearly distinguish between granting planting area codes and export conditions. Accordingly, planting area codes are only a condition to meet management and traceability requirements. Being granted a code does not automatically mean the product is eligible for export, as businesses must still meet all technical, quarantine, and specific regulations of each market. "Currently, some markets such as China, the United States, Malaysia, Taiwan (China), and South Korea still require the competent authority of the importing country to directly approve the planting area code and the packaging facility code before export is permitted. Meanwhile, many markets such as EU, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Chile, and some products exported to Thailand accept the list of codes approved by Vietnam itself", said Mr. Huynh Tan Dat.
To ensure transparency, all data on planting area codes and packaging facilities will be publicly available on Ministry of Agriculture and Environment's operational processing system, including information on the entity, location, area, product, export market and operational status of each code. Following the conference, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will establish working groups to coordinate with key localities to implement a campaign lasting approximately 30 days to definitively resolve outstanding applications for planting area codes.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn