Ginseng seedlings in Kon Tum Province (Photo: VNA)
Ginseng management, experts and farmers discussed solutions to prevent and tackle smuggled ginseng, and protect Vietnamese ginseng growers at a seminar held by Nong Nghiep Vietnam (Vietnam Agriculture) Newspaper on Friday in Hanoi.
Recently, there have been traders on the market selling Vietnamese Ngoc Linh and Lai Chau ginseng at prices several dozen times cheaper than the original ginseng.
In fact, original Ngoc Linh ginseng’s price is more than VND300 million (US$12,500) per kilo, and Lai Chau ginseng is also priced at over VND120 million ($5,000) per kilo. Meanwhile, on the floating market, "fake" Ngoc Linh and Lai Chau ginseng is priced at only a few million dong per kilo.
Authorities have repeatedly discovered ginseng of unknown origin masquerading as Ngoc Linh and Lai Chau ginseng imported from China.
Notably, the smuggled ginseng was also detected with pesticide residues far exceeding the allowed levels. Many ginseng samples also contained plant protection active ingredients that are banned in Vietnam.
The illegally imported ginseng is not only harmful to people’s health but also impacts the Vietnamese ginseng brands, and growers and businesses. This situation requires effective solutions to prevent and tackle illegally imported ginseng from China.
Nguyen Trong Lich, vice director of Agriculture and Rural Development of Lai Chau Province, said Lai Chau is a province with favourable conditions for growing ginseng.
The Prime Minister issued a decision on the development of Vietnamese ginseng, including Lai Chau ginseng. Currently, the province has a total of 35ha of ginseng with the participation of 22 businesses, co-operatives and over 200 households, Lich said.
“Currently, Lai Chau Province’s ginseng growing area is still small. The province is focussing on ginseng propagation,” Lich told the seminar.
“There have not been many branded ginseng products but some simple products such as ginseng soaked in wine and honey," he said.
Talking about the prevention of counterfeit ginseng, Lieutenant Colonel Phung Ngoc Truong, head of the Department for Investigation of Crimes of Corruption and Smuggling of the Lai Chau Police, said that in recent years, the department had discovered and handled 18 cases of fake ginseng trading.
When the authorities took drastic actions, traders switched to importing smuggled goods in small quantities and transported them at night on mountain roads to cause difficulties for the authorities, Truong said.
According to Colonel Do Dinh Cuong, head of the Drug and Crime Prevention Department of the Lai Chau Border Guard, the province has a 30km border of rivers and streams with China that is used by smugglers to illegally transport ginseng from China to Vietnam.
Smugglers dropped wooden boxes containing ginseng into rivers and streams from China to Vietnam, said Cuong.
The smuggling of ginseng had been ongoing since 2021. The border force had increased patrols, uncovered and seized 172.9kg of ginseng valued at VND246 million ($11,000). Two individuals were prosecuted for smuggling charges, he said.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Duc Le, from the General Department of Market Management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that more than 4,400 cases related to counterfeit Vietnamese ginseng products were handled in the first eight months of this year.
"We have discovered many stores selling fake Ngoc Linh and Lai Chau ginsengs and products such as gingseng cakes, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products,” Le said.
It was necessary to have drastic solutions to prevent ginseng smuggling and protect Vietnamese ginseng.
According to Nguyen Trung Manh, People’s Committee’s chairman of Tu Mo Rong District in Kon Tum Province, it is vital to enhance information dissemination so that people can easily identify Vietnamese Ngoc Linh and Lai Chau ginseng.
In addition, authorities must implement stricter measures against ginseng smuggling activity.
Previously, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang signed Decision 611/QĐ-TTg approving the Programme on Developing Vietnamese Ginseng until 2030, with orientation to 2045.
The overall aim of the programme is to develop Vietnamese ginseng into a product of high economic value and a key commodity in the medicine-pharmacy and healthcare fields, thereby creating a national product brand. This initiative will contribute to job creation, income for people, socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas, and ensuring national defence and security.
Currently, there are two major ginseng growing regions in Vietnam: Ngoc Linh ginseng in Quang Nam and Kon Tum provinces, and Lai Chau ginseng in Lai Chau Province. Ngoc Linh ginseng boasts a saponin content that surpasses other renowned ginseng varieties globally.
Kon Tum Province has 1,165 households, 30 household groups, and five businesses engaged in Ngoc Linh ginseng production with a total cultivation area of 1,749.3ha, hosting 29.9 plants per hectare.
Meanwhile, in Quang Nam Province, the designated area for conservation and development of Ngoc Linh ginseng spans 15,568ha, and the total forested area planted with the ginseng covers 456ha. The province's yield is estimated at 547kg per hectare for 5-year-old ginseng.
VNA