After five years of implementing the government’s Scheme 100, traceability activities in Viet Nam have made clear progress, moving from pilot projects to the formation of a unified data infrastructure, gradually linking ministries, sectors, local authorities, and the business community.

However, new demands arising from international integration are setting higher requirements for standardisation, interoperability, and data-sharing capacity.

Speaking at a recent conference reviewing five years of implementing Scheme 100, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Le Xuan Dinh emphasised that traceability needs to be elevated to the level of a national management system, shifting decisively from mere technical connectivity to full data interoperability, and ensuring uniform application across key industries.

According to the deputy minister, as many markets such as the EU, the US, and Japan roll out digital product passports and mandatory traceability, Viet Nam must regard traceability as the “backbone” of quality management and transparent trade. This requirement is also aligned with the orientation of Resolution 57-NQ/TW, which identifies science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation as strategic breakthroughs.

In practice, despite positive results, implementation across localities and sectors remains uneven. In the next phase, Scheme 100 needs to move from piloting to standardisation, and from deployment to creating breakthroughs, such that traceability can truly become a “digital passport” for Vietnamese goods in the global marketplace.