HCM CITY — A series of major retail brands have joined HCM City’s Goods Quality Assurance Cooperation Programme, known as the “Responsible Green Tick”, helping to strengthen quality control and ensure the safety of products sold in the city, according to the municipal Department of Industry and Trade.

The department on December 19 held a conference in Vũng Tàu Ward to review one year of the programme implementation, attended by representatives of city agencies, retail and distribution systems, as well as businesses and suppliers.

According to Nguyễn Nguyên Phương, deputy director of the department, who spoke at the event, as Việt Nam’s largest consumer market, HCM City receives a massive volume of goods each day from provinces nationwide. This creates an urgent need to tighten quality control and traceability in order to protect consumer rights.

The “Responsible Green Tick” programme has been introduced as a “soft management” tool, establishing shared responsibility among regulators, distributors and suppliers, thereby enhancing market transparency.

To date, the programme has attracted 12 major retail systems, including Saigon Co.op, SATRA, AEON Vietnam, Central Retail Vietnam, MM Mega Market Vietnam, Bách Hóa Xanh, King Food Market, WinCommerce, Lotte Vietnam, GS25 Vietnam, Sài Gòn HD and Laria.

Across the city, 389 suppliers with more than 4,000 products have been certified under the “Responsible Green Tick” standards and are being widely distributed through retail networks.

Notably, sales of green tick-certified products have risen by more than 20 per cent since the programme’s launch, reflecting growing consumer trust and preference for goods that are strictly controlled for quality, safety and origin.

Võ Hoàng Anh, Private Label Director at Saigon Co.op, said the programme initially faced significant challenges, as many suppliers were hesitant to participate.

However, Saigon Co.op had since partnered with around 80 suppliers to bring 1,200 green tick-certified products, mainly fresh food items, into its more than 800 retail outlets nationwide.

Despite these gains, consumer recognition of products with green tick label remained at about 60 per cent. Anh called on State agencies to strengthen communications efforts so the programme could reach wider customers.

Nguyễn Thanh Hải, a representative of Bách Hóa Xanh Trading JSC, said the company currently had 1,558 products participating in the programme, with most recording stable revenue growth. He urged closer coordination among State management agencies to tighten controls on goods entering the city, particularly fresh produce.

Meanwhile, Nguyễn Bằng Lăng, a representative of AEON Vietnam, proposed expanding distribution channels and accelerating the rollout of green tick-certified products on e-commerce platforms to better reach online shoppers. She also stressed the need for a more balanced allocation of rights and obligations between distributors and suppliers involved in the programme.

Overall, the department assessed that the programme had helped raise legal compliance and corporate social responsibility among businesses, while serving as an effective market management tool. However, due to its stringent criteria and standards, some suppliers and distribution systems remained reluctant to participate.

In the coming period, the department planned to further refine its operation, support the promotion and consumption of green tick-labelled products, and study additional trade policies to encourage broader participation, with the aim of building a safe, transparent and sustainable goods market for the city, Phương said. — VNS