On the side of organizations, associations, experts, and speakers attending the program, there were : Mr. Cao Thien Tam - Chairman of the Sam Son City Business Association; Mr. Pham Hai Quynh, Director of the Asian Tourism Development Institute (ATI), Chairman of the Vietnam Community Tourism Association (VCTC); Mr. Nguyen Dang Sinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Association for Anti-Counterfeiting and Brand Protection (VATAP); Dr. Le Van Giang, Chairman of the Vietnam Association for Food Safety Science and Technology; Mr. Nguyen Van Thai, Vice Chairman of the Thanh Hoa Provincial Tourism Association; Mr. Pham Loc Ninh - Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Association for Natural Products Science, Director of the Institute for Anti-Counterfeiting and Commercial Fraud Techniques.

On the organizing side, there are : Journalist Nguyen Viet Hung - Editor-in-Chief of Brand and Product Magazine; Journalist Tran Thanh Tuong - Secretary General of Brand and Product Magazine.

Speaking at the Workshop, Mr. Nguyen Van Thai, Vice Chairman of Thanh Hoa Province Tourism Association said: Thanh Hoa is a province in the North Central region, where there are many famous landscapes, historical relics, along with long coastlines and famous beautiful beaches such as Sam Son, Hai Tien, Hai Ha... This is an important premise for Thanh Hoa to develop a comprehensive "multi-sector, multi-field" economy, in which tourism increasingly accounts for a large proportion in the province's economic structure.

Resolution of the 18th Thanh Hoa Provincial Party Congress, term 2015-2020 determined to strive to make tourism an economic sector with a high proportion in the province's service economy, in line with the requirements and development trends of the country.

At the 19th Provincial Party Congress, term 2020-2025 and Resolution No. 58-NQ/TW dated August 5, 2020 of the Politburo on building and developing Thanh Hoa province to 2030, with a vision to 2045, it was determined that "tourism is a spearhead economic sector".

In recent years, Thanh Hoa has focused on attracting investment in many fields, including tourism, tourist attractions, and tourist areas and spots to have better service quality. The province has also paid attention to and created favorable conditions in terms of administrative procedures and legal corridors for businesses to come; at the same time, the province has also invested a lot of capital in transport infrastructure to connect to tourist destinations and routes. Currently, the province also has many large projects that have been and are being invested in localities, urgently supporting investors to complete tourist areas and spots as well as resorts early to achieve better quality.

Thanks to the efforts of authorities at all levels, Thanh Hoa tourism industry is growing. In 2023, the total number of tourists to Thanh Hoa reached 12,485,000, an increase of 13.1% compared to 2022, reaching 104% of the 2023 plan. Of which, international tourists reached: 616,200, 2.5 times higher than in 2022, reaching 100.2% of the 2023 plan. Total tourism revenue reached 24,505 billion VND, an increase of 22.2% compared to 2022, reaching 101.3% of the 2023 plan.

In the first 6 months of this year, Thanh Hoa province welcomed nearly 9.8 million visitors, an increase of 16% over the same period in 2023. Total tourism revenue is estimated at nearly 20,000 billion VND, an increase of 30% over the same period. Of which, visitors to Sam Son accounted for more than 65% of the total number of visitors to Thanh Hoa, the rate of staying guests increased by more than 30% over the same period.

Thanh Hoa's tourist destinations that are highly appreciated by tourists are Hai Tien (Hoang Hoa), Hai Hoa (Nghi Son town) and especially Sam Son - the coastal city. In 2023 alone, Sam Son welcomed nearly 8 million visitors, equal to 112.8% compared to the same period in 2022, reaching 109.7% of the plan - considered one of the units receiving the most tourists in the country; serving more than 15 million tourist days. Total revenue from tourists is estimated at nearly 14.3 trillion VND. These extremely impressive numbers in 2023 have made Sam Son continue to be included in the list of new outstanding destinations in Vietnam, attracting increasing attention from domestic and international tourists.

At today's workshop, delegates will evaluate the advantages, difficulties and obstacles in the development of Vietnam's tourism in general and Thanh Hoa tourism in particular. This is also an opportunity for leaders of Thanh Hoa province, leaders of Sam Son city and agencies and units to receive opinions from experts in tourism development in order to innovate, create, increase effectiveness and efficiency in management and business towards sustainable green tourism.

I wish all distinguished guests good health, happiness and success; and a successful conference.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Mr. Nguyen Huu Ha - Deputy Head of the Thanh Hoa Food Safety and Hygiene Department said:

In recent years, sustainable economic development associated with green growth and green tourism has received increasing attention, becoming an important development direction for many countries in the world, including Vietnam. Experts say that developing green tourism helps affirm that Vietnam is no longer an emerging destination, but a competitive tourism-developed country.

In fact, in recent times, our country's tourism has made great strides in both the number of visitors and revenue in both international and domestic markets.

According to the General Statistics Office, in the first 6 months of 2024, international tourists to Vietnam reached more than 8.83 million, an increase of 58.4% over the same period in 2023. Domestic tourists are estimated at 66.5 million. Total revenue is estimated at about 436.5 trillion VND. Thus, the number of visitors in the first half of the year has reached 50% of the annual target of 17 - 18 million.

Thanh Hoa tourism plays an important role in the development of Vietnam's tourism industry. In the first 6 months of 2024, the whole province welcomed nearly 9.8 million visitors, an increase of 16% over the same period in 2023. Total tourism revenue is estimated at nearly 20,000 billion VND, an increase of 30% over the same period. Of which, visitors to Sam Son accounted for more than 65% of the total number of visitors to Thanh Hoa, the rate of staying guests increased by more than 30% over the same period.

The above figures show that the tourism industry is increasingly contributing significantly to the economic structure of Vietnam in general, Thanh Hoa and Sam Son in particular. Especially in the context of the current difficult economic production. Therefore, tourism development is a right direction, contributing to the development of the regional economy, increasing income, and improving people's lives.

Currently, the issue of food hygiene and safety at tourist destinations is not only a concern for tourists but also a concern for the entire tourism industry and local authorities. Because not all tourist establishments ensure good food hygiene and safety in food services, especially at tourist destinations and festivals... The use of banned chemicals in farming and processing agricultural, aquatic and food products has not been effectively prevented, so the source of raw materials for food services is difficult to ensure good food hygiene and safety.

Experts say that with its diverse and comprehensive benefits, green tourism is becoming an important development direction for Vietnam’s tourism industry. However, to develop sustainable tourism, the issue of food safety needs to be thoroughly resolved.

Therefore, Brand and Product Magazine in collaboration with Sam Son City People's Committee and Thanh Hoa Food Safety and Hygiene Coordination Office organized the Workshop: "Food Safety and Security towards sustainable green tourism: Shifting from awareness to action" is suitable for current practice.

For the success and quality of the Workshop, I would like to ask delegates to contribute their opinions and practical issues that businesses and localities face, in order to clarify the issues raised by the Workshop.

First: Current status of food safety in tourism development.

Second: Difficulties and obstacles in tourism activities related to food safety issues.

Third, propose solutions to help develop the tourism industry, towards sustainable tourism.

And other related issues.

On behalf of the Organizing Committee, I would like to sincerely thank the agencies, departments, branches, delegates and all comrades who have coordinated to organize this important Conference.

I would like to declare open the Workshop “Food Safety and Security towards Sustainable Green Tourism: Shifting from Awareness to Action”.

I wish you, comrades and delegates, good health, happiness and success.

According to Mr. Pham Hai Quynh - Director of Asia Tourism Development Institute (ATI), Chairman of Vietnam Community Tourism Association (VCTC): Developing a green tourism model requires compliance with a series of criteria to ensure that tourism activities are not only environmentally friendly but also bring sustainable benefits to the local community and economy.

To develop a green tourism model, it is necessary to pay attention to factors such as: Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before starting any project; need to protect local ecology, especially endangered animals and natural habitats; apply policies to reduce, reuse and recycle waste, limit the use of disposable plastic; should use renewable energy sources such as solar, wind or small hydropower.

In addition, use water-saving devices, do not discharge pollution into natural water sources. It is especially necessary to raise awareness, inspire, educate the community and preserve and promote traditional cultural values ​​of the locality.

Sharing at the workshop, Mr. Ha Van Giap, Chief of the Office of Food Safety and Hygiene, said that dirty food is the leading cause of cancer in Vietnam. Cancer has been and is a burden for families and society around the world as well as in Vietnam.

According to Globocan (Global Cancer Organization) 2022 data just announced in early March this year, worldwide there are about 19.9 million new cases and 9.7 million deaths, in Vietnam there are about 180,400 new cases and more than 120,000 deaths due to cancer.

According to experts, the number of cancer cases has increased rapidly in recent years due to three main reasons: dirty food, polluted environment, and increased life expectancy. Of these, dirty food is the leading factor, accounting for about 35%, tobacco 30%, genetics only 5-10%, and the rest are other causes.

Nowadays, dirty food appears a lot, consumers have difficulty in identifying, difficult to distinguish between dirty food and clean, safe food. Some causes of dirty food are:

Biological agents: Including bacteria, viruses, parasites in food.

Food that has been processed but is not hygienic or food that has been processed but not properly preserved, allowing insects (flies, flies...) to land on it, will transmit disease-causing microorganisms to humans if eaten.

Chemical agents: Most food-related causes of cancer come from this group of agents.

Faced with that situation, Thanh Hoa province, the Provincial Party Committee issued Resolution No. 04/NQ/TU on strengthening the Party's leadership in ensuring food hygiene and safety in the province until 2020, Conclusion 624-KL/TU dated October 4, 2021 on continuing to strengthen the Party's leadership in ensuring food hygiene and safety in the province until 2025.

The Chief of the Office of Food Safety and Hygiene Coordination of Thanh Hoa province proposed a solution for the State management agency.

Firstly: Strengthen management based on issuing specific regulations on food safety standards for hotels and restaurants serving tourists; Require hotels and restaurants to commit to implementing the set regulations on quality food ingredients, hygiene conditions of equipment, environment and service staff.

Second: Raise awareness and responsibility of enterprises, production and business establishments, and service providers regarding the content of ensuring food security and safety.

There are appropriate sanctions for businesses that violate regulations, may cause or have caused food poisoning to tourists, affecting the reputation and image of the Vietnamese tourism industry.

At the same time, Mr. Ha Van Giap also made recommendations for food production and business establishments and catering services.

First: Strengthen information, propaganda, education and training on food safety knowledge for relevant staff, especially those who prepare and serve food to tourists.

Second: Strengthen control of food ingredients and water sources used at facilities. Food ingredients have stable origin and can be traced when needed.

Third: Strictly control the processing area, the kitchen must be designed and built according to the one-way principle, with a door for raw food ingredients to enter and a door for processed products to exit. The floor, ceiling, and walls must be built according to regulations.

Fourth: Strictly control food processing machinery, equipment and utensils. Food processing machinery, equipment and utensils must be made from specialized materials and not contaminate the food during processing.

Fifth: Control the means of transporting raw materials and food products during the service process. Hotels, restaurants and food processing establishments need specialized means of transport, used only for transporting raw materials and food products.

Sixth: Control labor protection and personal hygiene of food processors.

Saturday: Control the customer service process.

In short, it can be said that ensuring food security and safety is currently an urgent and important issue for the socio-economic development process in particular and tourism in general. It contributes to promoting Vietnamese culinary culture to tourists, friends around the world and international integration, while also protecting the health of tourists and attracting tourists to Vietnamese cuisine.

To do this well, it is necessary to have the drastic and strong participation of Party committees, authorities, organizations at all levels, businesses, restaurants, hotels and the community to gradually change from awareness, thinking to action in ensuring food security and safety and contributing to building the culinary culture of Thanh Hoa in particular and Vietnam in general.

The first discussion session with the topic: "Developing "clean", sustainable tourism on the basis of food security and safety" .

Question 1: The first 4 months of 2024 showed that the whole country had 24 cases with 835 people suffering from food poisoning, 3 deaths and there has been no sign of stopping recently. It can be said that the current food safety management work is only managed at the top, not at the root, that is, when consequences occur, the functional sectors will take action. In industry, the management of finished products is relatively more favorable, but there are still many issues that need to be considered and adjusted, especially in the process of registration, inspection, product monitoring, preservation, etc.

Based on many issues that need to be overcome to overcome current limitations and shortcomings in food safety management in accordance with the actual situation, what do you expect from the Food Safety Law to be added to the Law and Ordinance development program in 2025?

Mr. Nguyen Huu Ha - Deputy Head of Thanh Hoa Food Safety and Hygiene Department: Food safety and hygiene management in Vietnam began with the Food Safety and Hygiene Ordinance 2003, with the Ministry of Health as the focal point for comprehensive management of food safety issues.

After 7 years of implementation, many shortcomings were noted. Based on the consultation of ministries and branches, in 2010 the National Assembly issued the Food Safety Law - the highest legal document to date in food safety work.

Accordingly, the work of ensuring food safety is assigned to three management sectors, including health, agriculture and industry and trade. And the Law has also assigned and decentralized to ministries and sectors to manage throughout from raw materials to product output - quite clear in the issue of decentralization.

However, recently, the number of food poisoning cases has increased dramatically, in the first 6 months of 2024 there were 36 poisoning cases, with more than 2,000 people infected and 6 deaths. Therefore, the Prime Minister issued a telegram requesting to strengthen food safety work.

Reality requires a new, more appropriate Food Safety Law. The National Assembly has assigned the Ministry of Health to amend the Food Safety Law, with a deadline of 2025.

From the perspective of a local manager, Mr. Nguyen Huu Ha hopes that the new law will amend the organizational model: Currently, there are many organizational models, from boards, departments, to branches..., Mr. Ha hopes for a breakthrough in the model, unified nationwide, helping management work to be more synchronous and effective, in the direction of a single focal point. If there is a fear of assignment and decentralization, it is necessary to be clearer about the roles of the parties, helping management work to be more effective, avoiding the situation where one sector blames another sector when food poisoning cases occur, and avoiding shortcomings such as two agencies managing the same factory.

If so, the Department is only managing the top, not the root. Therefore, the Deputy Director of the Department hopes that the new law will focus on one apparatus and one focal point. If the assignment and decentralization of authority are assigned to the sectors to participate in management, it needs to be clearer so that the management work is more effective.

Question 2: According to the general assessment from management agencies, food safety management has long had many shortcomings and limitations. For example, the current food safety management model is not unified. Management work is currently assigned to three sectors: Health, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Industry and Trade?

In general, legal documents on food safety have relatively complete regulations, creating a fairly solid legal corridor for state management in this field. However, the application of general regulations to practical production and business activities, especially in the context of the development of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution, which is initially forming a digital economy in Vietnam, still has many difficulties and shortcomings, leading to low efficiency in ensuring food safety, the situation of "dirty food" still occurs every day and is increasingly difficult to control.

Many opinions say that, regarding coordination, departments and sectors have coordinated in food safety management but the efficiency is not high. The number of state management documents on food safety is large, issued by many entities, so there is no synchronization between management sectors, sometimes causing difficulties in searching and applying?

Mr. Ha Van Giap, Chief of the Office of Food Safety Coordination of Thanh Hoa Province: Firstly, the issue of the superstructure, the current document has Directive No. 17 of the Secretariat, so management should be centralized at one point. Previously, since 2009, the Food Safety Department was established, the initial stage of implementation of management was partly at one point, so it was easier to manage.

The Ordinance on Food Safety and Hygiene was issued in 2003, and in 2007 the Food Safety Law was developed. In 2010, Law No. 55 was issued, and it took effect in July 2011. When implementing the Food Safety Law, there were many inappropriate things. Firstly, because it was assigned to various sectors, each sector had its own direction.

For example: The Agriculture sector has Circular No. 17 guiding the management of small-scale establishments. Circular No. 18 guiding the issuance of certificates of eligibility and inspection of establishments under the management of the Agriculture sector. The Industry and Trade sector has Circular No. 13, Circular No. 17. The Health sector has Decree No. 115. I have to grasp all three areas to manage.

In fact, in recent times, there have been many places that have not been suitable for management practices. The Food Safety Department was established in 2009 and has now merged with the Department of Health into one department, making it even more complicated. The management of food safety is decreasing while the problems and challenges of food safety are increasing.

Among the departments, only the Ca Mau Food Safety Management Department has merged three departments into one, we also have that project, I see that the management work has many advantages. Currently, we are establishing 3 inspection teams to inspect in Sam Son. To establish that inspection team, we have to request documents, people, and consultants to make decisions, so there are many problems.

Question 3: Mr. Le Van Giang, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Food Safety Science and Technology, from the practice of Decree 15/2018/ND-CP replacing Decree No. 38/2012/ND-CP of the Food Safety Law? Advantages and difficulties in self-declaring products according to Decree 15/2018/ND-CP dated February 2, 2018 after 6 years of implementation?

Mr. Le Van Giang, Chairman of the Vietnam Association for Food Safety Science and Technology, former Deputy Director of the Department of Food Safety, Ministry of Health said: I think that Decree 15/2018/ND-CP was issued by the Government to give businesses a precious gift that they have long dreamed of. Why, all of our products, which we had to make announcements for state approval, are now made by businesses themselves. So is it right or wrong, there are both right and wrong, more right than wrong.

It is true that if we continue on the old path, with the main viewpoint being administrative, businesses will suffer a lot, but the downside is that Decree 15 pushes all responsibility onto businesses, and businesses are responsible for themselves from the production and business stages to product announcement.

In life, not all we can publish, such as casting cakes, cakes that have not been done yet, how can we announce?

How to travel it is safe, the state must produce the so -called management according to the process and announce that process.

We want to do green, clean and sustainable tourism, we have to eat well, stay clean, and want to be safe we ​​have to sign with a production facility with sufficient certificates of food origin.

We try to keep the business environment well.

Question 4: Mr. Nguyen Dang Sinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of anti -counterfeiting and branding (VATAP), according to experts, in the era of industrial revolution 4.0, if not modernizing anti -counterfeit technology, it is difficult to control and prevent increasingly sophisticated tricks of fake goods distribution channels, especially in the food industry.

Mr. Nguyen Dang Sinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of anti -counterfeiting and branding (VATAP) said: Food factors are a very important part of tourism development, so it is necessary to raise the focus on food control inspection.

When traveling, tourists need to enjoy the specialties of that local region. To ensure food safety, I think that even these specialties need to check control, need to adjust the packaging, labels, comply with the provisions under the food safety law.

In many production facilities, many businesses have not done this problem well.

Thanh Hoa province has not had a steering committee on food safety.

In the transformation of the country, I think that managers and businesses have applied digital technology to manage products from input to output, without having to record, very easy to control.

In this fact, the Vietnam Association of anti -counterfeiting and branding has had many concerns and finds many new technologies. Recently, the Association has found an advanced new technology suitable to the regulations of the Ministry of Science and Technology in Circular 02.

For example, just now with Thanh Ha fabric product, experts of the Association have attached the chip into each litchi to monitor from the farming stage, so control is very easy, can show 10 information traceability according to Circular 02. And the Association has another information about tax payment - from which the state agency can fully check to trace the origin of the Prime Minister.

The difficult point is that the state management agency and businesses have done in the story of digital conversion, but consumers do not know to use to check the origin of a product.

Question 5: The trend of using green, clean and environmentally friendly products is really the current trend, but how to check, monitor and properly assess the quality of food safety in production and product source when too many products take natural labels but do not guarantee quality and origin?

Assess the general situation and solutions for products that are labeled naturally?

Mr. Pham Loc Ninh - Vice Chairman of the Science Association of Vietnam Natural products, Director of the Institute of Technical Anti -Fake and Commercial Fraud: There are many products labeled with natural products on the market, in reality, it is not necessarily accurate.

Currently, life is better than consumers who want to use green and clean products, but determine whether it is clean, it is very difficult.

A natural product, when the chemical impact, even a little bit, can not call 100% natural products.

How to check and evaluate food safety products?

Implementation of inspection measures, factories with product quality inspection rooms, or inspection teams of the authorities, which is the inspection measure to evaluate product safety.

When we have good sanctions, plus traceability will control product quality better.

The second discussion session with the theme: Sustainable tourism development on the basis of food security and food safety today.

Question 1: The support and consultation of the construction of community tourism projects is a new point in the sustainable green tourism industry.

For community tourist areas in remote areas, environmental protection, food safety and security are done?

Pham Hai Quynh, Director of Asia Tourism Development (ATI), Chairman of the Vietnam Community Tourism Association (VCTC): The support and consultation of the construction of community tourism projects is a new point in the sustainable green tourism industry. There are tourism models supported by the government up to 40-50 houses but no standard house to put into service.

Although there are many difficulties, the most difficult is that there are models to set up the movement and results to report.

In addition, developing the local community tourism model is suffering from people who can see and go to other localities to finish their application, sometimes bringing the indigenous culture of people to their side. Help the local community to have clear orientation in each product.

Along with the issue of community tourism development is a sustainable livelihood development. This is an extremely important factor to resolve community conflicts.

I myself think that the story of resolving conflicts between the community participating in tourism and the community specializing in tourism to create a sustainable picture to help the rights of each party is guaranteed. Especially, when the tourism develops, it will help to preserve culture, helping localities will have a clean green product and more than developing community tourism in a sustainable manner.

Question 2: Together with localities in the country, tourism in Thanh Hoa province in general and Sam Son city in particular have been invested and developed into a key economic sector and becoming an attractive tourist destination with many domestic and international tourists, bringing great income for the economy, creating jobs for many workers;

The association's responsibility in the role of supporting and connecting businesses to contribute to the province's policy so that Sam Son City becomes a national key tourist city?

Mr. Cao Thien Tam - Chairman of Sam Son City Business Association: Together with localities throughout the country, tourism in Thanh Hoa province in general and Sam Son city in particular have been invested and developed into a key economic sector and becoming an attractive tourist destination with many domestic and international tourists.

Perhaps, for businesses doing tourism services in the city of Sam Son, it is aware of the investment in the field of tourism, is one of the industries that Sam Son businesses are extremely interested.

On the side of the city business community, in recent years, we are aware of the tourism service business is the backbone of the business production and business activities. Advanced.

Currently, in Sam Son city, there are more than 100 establishments operating in the field of tourism and coordinated office, this also sees the business community is very interested.

Our Business Association also wants businesses to produce and business in general, including tourism services in particular, we always want to respect the law in food safety and hygiene.

Question 3: Mr. Nguyen Van Thai, Vice Chairman of the Tourism Association of Thanh Hoa province as we know with the welcoming nearly 9.8 million visitors, the revenue is estimated at nearly 20 trillion dong, the "smokeless industry" has become a bright spot in the overall picture of socio -economic development of Thanh Hoa province in the first 6 months of 2024. From the orientation of solutions to the action that is sustainable in the upcoming tourism association?

Mr. Nguyen Van Thai, Vice Chairman of Thanh Hoa Tourism Association: Currently, Thanh Hoa tourism is developing with 2 very good directions.

One is a coastal ecological area, many areas are very good and very effective. Like the Sam Son area, tourism activities are growing, tourists are very crowded, very happy for Thanh Hoa.

Two development in Pu Luong area. Many units do not significant scale.

Back to Sam Son, this place is growing, the number of visitors increases gradually, very potential.

Regarding food safety, hotels and people have been aware and implemented very well, contributing to the development of the tourism industry of the province.

Closing the conference of journalist Nguyen Viet Hung - Editor -in -chief of the Brand and Product Magazine affirmed: "After a period of urgently, serious workshop:" Security - food safety towards sustainable green tourism: Shift from awareness to action " by the brand magazine and product has ended successfully with a series of activities of 2 discussions.

The seminar attracted the great attention of society and business community in tourism and food industry.

Dear delegates, valuable guests with limited time of the seminar, BTC and speakers have not been able to answer all questions of your business, BTC would like to receive comments and questions around the problems of the tourism market and food industry on the magazine website and will be transferred to experts to answer.

Once again on behalf of BTC, I would like to thank the delegates, guests, businesses ... for taking some valuable time to attend our seminar today.

According to brand and product magazine