MEKONG COUNTRIES EXPLORE HARMONIZATION OF TRACEABILITY DATA STANDARDS FOR BETTER RICE TRADE FACILITATION

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MEKONG COUNTRIES EXPLORE HARMONIZATION OF TRACEABILITY DATA STANDARDS FOR BETTER RICE TRADE FACILITATION

MEKONG COUNTRIES EXPLORE HARMONIZATION OF TRACEABILITY DATA STANDARDS FOR BETTER RICE TRADE FACILITATION

Agricultural Development and Commercialization

December 23, 2022

As a part of the three-year project “Development and Implementation of Common Rice Product Standard in Lancang-Mekong Countries,” representatives from Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Viet Nam, and Thailand identified key traceability data standards for the rice trade during the International Training on Traceability Standards for Rice, which was held from December 19-23, 2022 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. With the participation of concerned government agencies and rice businesses from Mekong countries, the training was designed to take the first steps in developing the traceability data standard for the Lancang-Mekong Region.

Recognizing the importance of digitalization in connecting agrifood value chain actors to one another, this training will support the interest of Mekong countries toward better rice trade facilitation through a strengthened traceability system,

said Ms, Maria Theresa S. Medialdia, Director of the Agricultural Development and Commercialization Department of Mekong Institute (MI).

Harmonizing the data standard of the existing traceability platforms in Mekong countries will ensure mutual recognition of rice products registered in any participating traceability system of each member country,

she added.

The training was led by MI and the Rice Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC) in Thailand. It was composed of five (5) modules which provided participants with knowledge on international trade data standards and their integration with the data field of a traceability system. Experts from Thammasat University, National Telecom Public Company Limited, and GS1 Hong Kong were invited to share their knowledge and expertise on digital traceability.

To enhance the learning experience, the participants visited The Sukha House (Thailand) Co., Ltd and the Phrao Agriculture Cooperative Ltd which are using Trace Thai, one of Thailand’s traceability systems for agricultural products. At the end of the training, each group identified essential traceability data requirements for the rice trade in their country which will be used to draft the white paper on the development of traceability data standards for the Lancang-Mekong Region.

Supported by the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Special Fund, this training program is the last of a series of training programs organized under the project.