Speeding up the issuance of Production Unit Code

On March 14, Plant Protection Department (PPD) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) in cooperation with the Sub-Department of Plant Production and Protection of An Giang province held a field trip to monitor and inspect the issuance of Production Unit Code (PUC) and Packhouse Code (PHC) in An Giang in a bid to promote export as well as make plan to have more cultivated areas and packhouses in the province issued with PUC and PHC in 2022.

Nguyen Van Hien, Director of An Giang's Department of Plant Production and Protection said: So far, 180 cultivated areas and 21 packhouses have been issued with PUC and PHC including 139 codes for mango, 7 codes for banana, 4 codes for jackfruit and 30 codes for rice. Particularly, the province had above 6,734 hectares under mango cultivation accounting for 37% of the total fruit-growing area issued with PUC.

Until now, the issuance of PUC has gone smoothly in An Giang. The province had 104 cultivated areas issued with PUC. These areas were qualified for producing agricultural products for export. Of which 66 PUCs issued to companies/enterprises, 38 PUCs issued to agricultural cooperatives with a total cultivated area of 1,973 hectares.

An Giang also issued PUCs to above 4,558 hectares of mango qualified for export.

Besides, An Giang had two PUCs registered for entering the EU markets. Specifically, Hoang Phat Fruit Company Limited that has cultivated fruits on 21 hectares in An Phu district was issued with PUC. In addition, there were 7 PUCs for 446 hectares of banana mainly planted in Tri Ton district, 4 PUCs for 86 hectares of jackfruit grown in Chau Doc city, Cho Moi district and Tan Chau town.

Along with that, PUC was issued to Loc Troi Group Joint Stock Company (Loc Troi Group) that cultivated rice and sticky rice of  OM 5451, OM 18, IR 4625, CK 2003 varieties on1,980 hectares in the districts of Thoai Son, Phu Tan, Tri Ton and Chau Thanh. Among that area were 364 hectares qualified for export to Japan, 336 hectares qualified for export to Europe and the rest qualified for domestic consumption.

According to Nguyen Van Hien, Head of the Sub-Department of Plant Production and Protection of An Giang province, the issuance of PUC and PHC meant a lot to the export of An Giang's farm product. Hence, it's important to speed up the issuance of PUC and PHC for rice, vegetable and fruit producers on the basic of the cooperation between the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of An Giang and Plant Protection Department under the MARD.

An Giang expects to issue 860 PUCs for the producers of the key crops such as rice, mango, citrus, longan, jackfruit, durian and vegetables in 2022.

Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Deputy Head of the Department of Plant Protection said the issuance of PUC has helped develop sustainable and safe agriculture, create favorable conditions for the establishment of production linkages as well as promote production and consumption.

Over the years, An Giang province has worked with the Department of Plant Protection to issue PUCs methodically. Especially, An Giang issued 51 new PUCs in 2021. On that basis, the Department of Plant Protection will continue to accompany the province to speed up the issuance of PUC and PHC to rice and fruit producers in the area. Particularly, the issuance of PUC to Loc Troi Group's production units has been considered as a highlight to be multiplied across the country.