Agricultural logistics requires green standards and specialized infrastructure

A strategy with broad reach

Senior officials from the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment met on May 22 to coordinate implementation of Decision 2229, the prime minister's directive approving Vietnam's Logistics Services Development Strategy for 2025 - 2035, with a vision extending to 2050.

Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director General of the Agency of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, opened the session by noting that logistics spans a wide range of sectors, from construction and finance to science, technology, agriculture, and the environment.

Decision 2229, he said, was developed with ministry input to build a logistics sector that is sustainable, efficient, and globally competitive. Its core workstreams include regulatory reform, service quality improvement, market development, enterprise capacity building, and the twin priorities of digital and green transformation.

Hai identified agricultural logistics as a strategic priority, given the sheer volume of farm produce, seafood, and forestry products moving through Vietnam's supply chains, and the fundamental differences between these goods and industrial cargo.

"Footwear or consumer goods can sit in a warehouse or travel by sea for extended periods with minimal impact," he said. "Fresh agricultural products require specialized preservation conditions from the moment they leave the farm."

Beyond agricultural logistics, Hai stressed that green transformation is a central mandate of Decision 2229. Logistics, he noted, ranks among the economy's largest emitters alongside energy and heavy industry. As global supply chains tighten their environmental standards, Vietnamese logistics providers that fail to meet those requirements risk losing their competitive edge.

A second Ministry of Industry and Trade representative acknowledged that resources for green transition remain limited, and called on environment and climate-focused units within the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to help design a shared green logistics framework, one that sets clear criteria and benchmarks, facilitates monitoring and evaluation, and allows individual sub-sectors to build their own digital and green transition programs within a common architecture.

Logistics tied to biology, not just infrastructure

Le Ba Anh, Deputy Director of the National Authority For Agro-Forestry-Fishery Quality, Processing And Market Development (NAFIQPM) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, said ministry leadership views logistics as critical to the agricultural sector's competitiveness.

Agricultural logistics, he explained, carries requirements that are categorically different from general freight: strict preservation standards, specialized handling, and rapid customs clearance to maintain both throughput speed and product quality. Post-harvest losses and transit damage, he added, remain unacceptably high.

Following the issuance of Decision 2229 on October 9, 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment published its own action plan on December 10, 2025, assigning specific responsibilities across departments. Many of those tasks, Le Ba Anh noted, relate directly to green logistics and sustainable development. The Department of Environment has been designated to assess and monitor environmental impacts and to lead coordination on green logistics development.

A dedicated agricultural logistics development plan has been incorporated into the ministry's 2026 work program, with publication expected before the end of May 2026. Given the sector's diversity, Le Ba Anh said the plan will adopt a framework approach rather than imposing uniform requirements across all commodity types.

He illustrated the point with contrasting examples. Chi Lang custard apples in Lang Son province require transport links from mountainous growing areas down to collection points and onward to national road networks. Lobsters from Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen provinces, however, must be kept alive in seawater throughout the journey north to Mong Cai for export to China.

"Lobsters cannot be shipped like standard frozen goods, the water must be changed multiple times along the route to preserve quality and commercial value," he said.

Ca Mau crabs present a similar challenge: a single dead specimen in a shipment can compromise the entire consignment. Pangasius catfish from the Mekong Delta must travel from grow-out ponds to processing plants aboard specialized live-haul vessels, traditional open-hull boats designed to maintain continuous water circulation and protect fish quality ahead of processing.

"This demonstrates that agricultural logistics is not simply a matter of warehousing and transport, it is inseparable from the biological characteristics of each individual product," Le Ba Anh said.

The same principle applies across commodity groups: rice, vegetables, durian, and seafood each carry distinct preservation requirements and infrastructure needs.

Rather than duplicating responsibilities already assigned to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and provincial authorities, particularly for regional logistics hubs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said it will focus on connecting farm produce efficiently to existing logistics centers, border gates, and shared infrastructure. The ministry has also written to industry associations and local authorities to survey current agricultural logistics conditions and gather proposals for the strategy's final development.

Approved under Decision 2229/QD-TTg, Vietnam's Logistics Services Development Strategy for 2025 - 2035 sets out to build a logistics sector that is sustainable, high-quality, and competitive within global supply chains.

Priority action areas include regulatory and legal reform, synchronized infrastructure development, regional connectivity, market development, enterprise capacity building, innovation, digital transformation, green transition, high-quality workforce development, and a stronger role for industry associations and leading enterprises.