The Hanoi People's Committee has decided to set up an interdisciplinary inspection team to supervise products developed under the national One Commune One Product (OCOP) program.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, the interdisciplinary inspection team will supervise OCOP products made by 50 local companies. This is one of the important tasks mentioned in the city's plan on the development of OCOP products to improve the program’s effectiveness in 2021.

The committee has required departments and localities to inspect and control the quality of 362 OCOP products that have been recognized by the municipal People's Committee in the period 2018-2020, including those from provinces and cities nationwide.

"The interdisciplinary mission will check the OCOP products in terms of product quality, food safety, and hygiene, and in compliance with criteria for evaluating and classifying OCOP products,” Nguyen Van Chi, Permanent Deputy Chief of the Hanoi Office of New Rural Development Program Coordination, told The Hanoi Times.

An OCOP showroom in Thanh Tri District, Hanoi. Photo: The Hanoi Times

The interdisciplinary inspection team will coordinate with relevant agencies to analyze and evaluate product quality and safety in accordance with regulations. Besides, random sampling is carried out to test products basing on food groups (beverages, herbs, among others). Strict punishment will be applied to offenders who could be both individuals and organizations.

In the past two years (2019 - 2020), Hanoi recognized 1,054 OCOP products. Among them, 306 have achieved three-star rating (accounting for 29%), 731 gained four-star (accounting for 69.4%) and 17 potential ones are expected to earn five-star (accounting for 1.6%).

The majority of the OCOP products (74.1%) are food while souvenirs, furniture and decor products account for 18.3 per cent. The remainders are beverages, herbal medicine, fabrics, and apparel.

Hanoi's OCOP program has attracted the proactive participation of 74 companies, 82 co-operatives, and 99 business households, which are contributing to creating jobs for more than 5,000 workers in rural areas.

“About 2,300 agricultural products from Ha Noi have been attached to QR code that helps customers trace their origin," Director of the municipal Department of Agricultural and Rural Development Chu Phu My told The Hanoi Times.

My said the city targets to complete the evaluation and classification for at least 2,000 OCOP products by 2025. In the coming time, the city will continue to push for greater efficiency in the implementation of the program. 

He urged the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to accelerate trade promotion to pave the way for OCOP and other specialty products to enter supermarkets, farm stores, traditional handicraft shops and e-commerce sites, and to gain access to foreign markets.

The department aims to develop, upgrade and rate at least 400 new OCOP products with a priority of food safety annually, Director Chu Phu My added.