Tracking technology raises seafood’s competitiveness

The seafood sector will begin applying hi-tech solutions to gain more information and trace the origins of its products, the fishing process and transport, aiming to raise its competitiveness in foreign markets.

This technology will help seafood enterprises ensure the quality and freshness of their products to meet international demands and create a chain of safe food supplies for global consumers.

Ta Viet Dung, Vice Head of the Technology Application and Development Department under the Ministry of Science and Technology, said that the origin-tracing system for aquaculture commodities will help businesses save production costs and detect errors in their products easily for quick correction.

The department was assigned to cooperate with a Thai partner and the IBM company to undertake a project on using information and identification technology to trace the origins of seafood for Vietnamese enterprises.

A number of businesses in Vietnam have gained access to origin-tracing solutions to create a supply chain for safe seafood. Accordingly, a sole tracking device will be applied to each element. The device could be a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag attached to a fish, a bar code on a product package, or a number assigned to a shrimp pond. The seafood can be scanned later and its data will be transferred to the person who needs it, from the distributor to the importer or consumer.

This solution helps create a connection within the supply chain and offers a smart management system with data analysed precisely in real time.

The framework for tracing food origins plays a significant role in ensuring food safety. It is expected to promote better enterprise compliance with the strict regulations of importing countries and their respective management agencies.

This project is being implemented successfully as a pilot at the Binh An Seafood Processing Joint Stock Company (Bianfishco).

Bianfishco’s Director General Pham Thi Dieu Hien said the old method of tracing origins was difficult to use when dealing with the large volume (200-300 tonnes) of fish processed each day, and threatened to cause big economic losses. She said the OpsSmart and Infosphere Traceability Server by IBM has helped her company become a leading processor of high-quality seafood.

Thieu Phuong Nam, an official of IBM Vietnam, said that IBM solutions will help Vietnam improve its position in the world list of the top ten seafood exporters.-VOV

Tags: Vietnam Seafood, Vietnam seafood sector