Decision 429/QD-TTg on Scheme on development of agricultural bio-industry through 2030

DECISION

Approving the Scheme on development of agricultural
bio-industry through 2030^[1]

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the June 19, 2015 Law on Organization of the Government; and the November 22, 2019 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of Local Administration;

Pursuant to the June 18, 2013 Law on Science and Technology;

Pursuant to the November 13, 2018 Law on High Technologies;

Pursuant to Conclusion No. 06-KL/TW of September 1, 2016, of the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee, on further implementation of Directive No. 50-CT/TW, of the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee, on stepping up the development and application of biotechnology to serve the national industrialization and modernization;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 10-NQ/TW of June 3, 2017, of the 5^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee, the XII^th Congress, on development of the private economic sector into an important driving force of the socialist-oriented market economy;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 23-NQ/TW of March 22, 2018, of the Party Central Committee, on orientations for formulation of policies on national industrial development through 2030, with a vision to 2045;

Pursuant to the Government’s Resolution No. 98/NQ-CP of October 3, 2017, promulgating the Government’s Program of Action to implement Resolution No. 10-NQ/TW of June 3, 2017, of the 5^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee, the XII^th Congress, on development of the private economic sector into an important driving force of the socialist-oriented market economy;

Pursuant to the Political Bureau’s Resolution No. 52-NQ/TW of September 27, 2019, on a number of guidelines and policies for proactive participation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 188/2005/QD-TTg of July 22, 2005, on implementation of Directive No. 50-CT/TW of March 4, 2005, of the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee, on stepping up the development and application of biotechnology to serve the national industrialization and modernization;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 899/QD-TTg of June 10, 2013, approving the Scheme on restructuring agriculture toward higher added value and sustainable development;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 553/QD-TTg of April 21, 2017, approving the Overall Plan on development of bio-industry through 2030;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 622/QD-TTg of May 10, 2017, promulgating the National Plan of Action to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1362/QD-TTg of October 11, 2019, approving the Plan on sustainable development of enterprises in the private sector through 2025;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 255/QD-TTg of February 25, 2021, approving the Plan on restructuring of agriculture in the 2021-2025 period;

At the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,

DECIDES:

Article 1. To approve the Scheme on development of agricultural bio-industry through 2030 (below referred to as the Scheme) with the following principal contents:

I. OBJECTIVES

1. General objectives

To develop agricultural bio-industry with higher added value, sustainability and eco-friendliness serving development of the agricultural economy; to raise the potential of research and development, apply and master modern agricultural biotechnology of the region and the world; to turn Vietnam into a country with agricultural biotechnology level on a par with that of advanced countries in the region and the world.

2. Specific objectives

a/ By 2025

- To research and develop new-generation biotechnologies; to approach and master technologies for manufacturing bio-preparations (bio-fertilizers, pesticides of biological origin, preparations for preservation and environmental treatment, new-generation vaccines, and test kits, etc.) in crop production, forestry, livestock production, and aquaculture, proceeding to gradually replace products of chemical origin.

- To master plant cell technology in propagating disease-free plant varieties on an industrial scale, and reduce production costs of seedlings by at least 30% against those based on traditional technologies.

- To receive, apply and transfer new technologies for industrial-scale production; to create and develop plant varieties and animal breeds with advanced properties such as those resilient to major pests or unfavorable conditions and those with rapid growth rate with the application of molecular marker and gene editing technologies.

- To step up the building and development of agricultural bio-industry, giving priority to product groups of plant varieties and animal breeds, technological processes for cell and tissue culture, bio-preparations for organic agricultural production, diagnosis preparations, and vaccines for disease prevention and treatment. To develop, and increase by at least 20% the number of, agricultural bio-industry enterprises.

- To increase the capacity of physical foundations and equipment for receiving and applying transferred technologies on an industrial scale, proceeding to form an agricultural bio-industry.

- To provide training and further training for improving the quality of human resources specialized in agricultural biotechnology to meet the demand for bio-industry development in the forms of training, retraining, vocational training, and short-term further training, attaching special importance to training human resources with high professional skills (holders of master, doctorate and postdoctoral degrees) for specialized working teams to serve agricultural bio-industry development.

b/ By 2030

- To master new-generation biotechnologies and create industrial-scale products for use in practical production.

- To form and increase the number of bio-industry enterprises in agriculture, forestry and fisheries by at least 30% against the number in the 2021-2025 period.

- To further provide support for improving the capacity of physical and technical foundations of bio-industry enterprises, science and technology organizations and technology transfer organizations to serve development of agricultural bio-industry.

- To intensify the training of human resources with adequate qualifications for mastering technologies, and receiving, applying and transferring new and advanced technologies on an industrial scale to meet practical and international integration requirements.

II. TASKS SET FORTH BY THE SCHEME

1. To develop science and technology serving agricultural bio-industry

a/ Regarding agricultural and forest plants

- To research the application of biotechnology for improving precious properties of key agricultural and forest plants and increasing resilience to pests and diseases so as to bring about high economic value for purposes of transfer and wide application in practical production of products and goods for domestic consumption and export.

- To approach and master new-generation gene technologies/gene editing technologies in research and breeding of plant varieties with properties resilient to pests and diseases and adaptable to climate change and with outstanding productivity and quality for agricultural production.

- To master agamic propagation technology for a number of agricultural and forestry plants on an industrial scale; to improve productivity and quality and reduce production costs of plant varieties so as to meet demands for domestic production and export.

- To develop ADN/barcode/molecular marker databases of indigenous genetic resources for use as a basis for conservation, exploitation, purification and development, brand protection, and geographical indications for agricultural and forest specialty products of Vietnam.

b/ Regarding health care and protection for plants and agricultural land

- To research and apply biotechnology for creating new-generation bio-preparations, test kits, managing plant pests and controlling residues of prohibited substances in agricultural products originating from plants, and assessing and diagnosing the fertility and health of agricultural land and water for irrigation.

- To develop and master technologies for industrial-scale production of bio-preparations such as micro-organic fertilizers, drugs, and bio-preparations for use in preservation, processing, treatment of environmental pollution, assurance of food safety and human and animal health; to develop bases for formation of a circular agricultural economy which will bring about higher added value and ensure sustainable development.

c/ Regarding domestic and aquatic animals

- To apply and master technologies for developing kits for rapid diagnosis, inspection and evaluation of the quality of animal and aquatic breeds; new-generation biotechnologies for creating breeds of key domestic and aquatic animals with new and superior properties (high productivity and quality, and good resilience to epidemics and environmental conditions); to transfer and apply technologies widely in production.

- To develop reproduction technologies for improving the quality and size of key domestic and aquatic animal breeding herds.

- To develop ADN/barcode/molecular marker databases for indigenous genetic resources for use as a basis for conservation, exploitation, purification and development, brand protection, and geographical indications for specialty products of domestic and aquatic animals of Vietnam.

d/ Regarding health care and protection for domestic and aquatic animals

- To apply and master new-generation technologies for developing methods and kits for rapid diagnosis, assessment of pathogenic agents of important diseases/new diseases in domestic and aquatic animals, and control of residues of prohibited substances in foods originating from domestic or aquatic animals; technologies for producing preparations to raise the resistance and nutrient use efficiency of domestic and aquatic animals; to create new-generation vaccines for disease prevention for domestic and aquatic animals; to produce biological veterinary drugs of high economic efficiency; to transfer industrial-scale production processes.

- To research and apply enzyme, protein and microorganism technologies for creating products to raise nutrient use efficiency of domestic animals and increase resilience to biological and non-biological factors.

dd/ Regarding post-harvest preservation

- To apply and master technologies for developing methods and kits for inspection and evaluation of the safety and quality of foods originating from plants and domestic and aquatic animals; to assess and diagnose pathogenic agents and agents resulting in decrease of quality of agricultural products and foods; technologies for manufacturing bio-preparations and raising the added value of by-products processed after harvest of agro-forestry-fishery products.

- To develop technologies for creating bio-preparations to serve preliminary processing and preservation to meet food safety requirements and raise competitiveness of key agricultural products.

2. To build and develop potential of agricultural bio-industry

a/ Building physical and technical foundations and modernizing machinery and equipment

- To intensively invest in building 4 biotechnology laboratories of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, including 1 laboratory for plant biotechnology, 1 laboratory for livestock production-animal health biotechnology, 1 laboratory for fishery biotechnology, and 1 laboratory for enzyme-microorganism biotechnology. To strive for the target that by 2030 all these 4 laboratories will reach the advanced level of the ASEAN region.

- To allocate non-budget funds for building laboratories for quality inspection of agro-forestry-fishery products and biosafety evaluation of biotechnology products up to international standards or standardized according to standards of the Vietnam Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (VILAS), and build biotechnology laboratories at enterprises.

- To increase equipment for at least 10 biotechnology laboratories of research institutes and universities in regions so that they have adequate physical and technical foundations to meet requirements for biotechnology research and development, and biosafety evaluation and inspection serving development of agricultural bio-industry.

- To support enterprises in importing new technologies and techniques to serve development of agricultural bio-industry.

b/ Training human resources

- To formulate, and organize the implementation of, a master plan on training of scientific human resources meeting quantity and quality requirements for development of agricultural bio-industry in Vietnam. To attach importance to training and refresher training for experts with high professional qualifications toward forming working teams engaged in agricultural bio-industry.

- To proactively and regularly improve the quality of domestic human resources and scientific officers at all levels in biotechnology. To encourage domestic and foreign organizations and individuals to participate in training human resources for agricultural biotechnology of Vietnam.

- To continue sending to overseas postgraduate and refresher training courses the scientific and technical officers working in the field of biotechnology who have not received state-funded specialized training in biodiversity within the framework of the Scheme’s scientific and technological tasks.

- To organize domestic courses for training technicians in agricultural bio-industry in combination with providing refresher training in transfer of new technologies and technical advances in the field of agricultural biotechnology for enterprises and localities.

- By 2030, to send overseas 30 persons to doctorate training courses, 100 persons to master training courses and 50 turns of scientific officers to refresher training courses, provide doctorate training for 30 persons in the country, and provide further training for 2,000 technicians for enterprises and localities for development of agricultural bio-industry.

c/ Developing the national database and information system on agricultural bio-industry

To continue to build, connect and operate the national database and information system on agricultural biotechnology; the system of libraries with publications in the forms of books, journals and e-libraries, ensuring the provision and sharing of the most basic and latest information on agricultural biotechnology among units and officers working in this field.

3. To build and develop agricultural bio-industry

To establish and develop bio-industry enterprises producing agricultural products on an industrial scale, including:

a/ Key plant varieties and domestic and aquatic animal breeds;

b/ Organic fertilizers, micro-organic fertilizers, bio-pesticides, bio-preparations for environmental treatment, and animal feeds, etc., for safe agricultural production and organic agriculture;

c/ Bio-preparations for preservation and processing of key agro-forestry-fishery products for domestic consumption and export;

d/ Vaccines for domestic and aquatic animals, biological veterinary drugs, kits for diagnosis, management of important pests for key plant varieties and domestic and aquatic animal breeds, and control of residues of prohibited substances.

4. To formulate and improve legal documents, mechanisms and policies on promotion of development of agricultural bio-industry

a/ To review existing legal documents, mechanisms and policies on promotion of the research, application and mastery of technologies, thus step by step forming agricultural bio-industry.

b/ To formulate and submit to competent authorities for issuance incentive mechanisms and policies for research and development, mastery, transfer and application of agricultural biotechnology to production and life; incentive policies for enterprises to invest in development of agricultural bio-industry; policies for attraction and diversification of investment resources for development of agricultural bio-industry; and policies on incentives for and employment of talents in agricultural biotechnology.

c/ To improve legal documents and policies on biosafety management for biotechnology products in conformity with international commitments as well as Vietnam’s policies and laws.

d/ To effectively implement incentive policies on tax, land, loan borrowing, support for transfer and import of technologies and technological know-how, and development of the market of foreign advanced technologies for enterprises to research and develop agricultural bio-industry.

dd/ To propose mechanisms and policies on support for enterprises to invest in researching and producing commodity biotechnology products in the field of agriculture, ensuring sustainable development.

5. To enter into international cooperation in the field of agricultural bio-industry

a/ To enter into bilateral and multilateral cooperation with countries in the region and the world that have an advanced agricultural bio-industry with a view to learning experience, attracting investment and gaining their assistance in order to ensure fast, vigorous and firm development of agricultural bio-industry in Vietnam.

b/ To formulate, and organize the implementation of, schemes and projects on cooperation in scientific research, development and application of agricultural biotechnology; transfer of technologies, production lines, machinery and equipment relating to agricultural biotechnology between domestic research institutes, universities and enterprises and partners of countries with an advanced biotechnology in the world.

c/ To facilitate receipt and transfer of new-generation technologies of special importance to Vietnam; to step by step master technologies and apply industrial-scale production in Vietnam.

6. To carry out communication work for raising awareness about agricultural bio-industry

a/ To step up information, communication and education activities for raising awareness of authorities at all levels and sectors and the entire society about the role, position and importance of agricultural bio-industry.

b/ To regularly provide people with the latest biotechnology knowledge and achievements and outstanding outcomes of agricultural bio-industry in the mass media.

c/ To organize agro-forestry-fishery and industrial extension activities for introducing, training and instructing people, enterprises, authorities of all levels and sectors in advances of agricultural biotechnology to serve as a basis for the development of agricultural bio-industry nationwide.

III. MAJOR SOLUTIONS

1. Science and technology development

a/ To support the application of outcomes of modern biotechnology research in production of agricultural products; to step up research and application, technology transfer, and mastery of technologies for industrial-scale production of agricultural biotechnology products.

b/ To closely associate scientific and technological activities with production and business activities of enterprises, encourage and support the popularization, transfer and application of technical advances in the field of biotechnology to production and life.

c/ To raise the capacity of science and technology organizations, biosafety inspection centers, and technology engineering divisions of enterprises so that they will be capable of receiving, researching and applying new technologies to serve the development of agricultural bio-industry.

d/ To encourage enterprises to invest in research and renovation of technologies and application of advanced technologies to production with a view to improving the productivity, quality and competitiveness of agricultural biotechnology products produced on an industrial scale. To help enterprises build biotechnology research and application facilities.

2. Mechanisms and policies

a/ To review and supplement mechanisms and policies on encouraging enterprises to invest in industrial-scale production and commercialization of agricultural biotechnology products according to the market mechanism, specifically as follows:

Improving mechanisms, policies and legal documents to encourage organizations and individuals to invest in research and industrial-scale production of agricultural biotechnology products;

Formulating new incentive mechanisms and policies for rapid development of small- and medium-sized biotechnology enterprises, especially encouraging enterprises to invest in bio-industry, and creating conditions for innovative startups to invest in this field.

b/ To intensify and diversify investment resources and facilitate the attraction of domestic and foreign investment from different economic sectors for the development of agricultural bio-industry.

3. Development of human resources

a/ To raise the capacity of scientific research officers of science and technology organizations, technology transfer organizations and bio-industry enterprises through sending them to doctorate and master training courses on biotechnology; to train leading experts in agricultural biotechnology.

b/ To prioritize training and further training of human resources to be capable of receiving and transferring new and advanced technologies to production in Vietnam; to support training of human resources for startups in bio-industry and training in transfer of technologies from overseas through bilateral and multilateral cooperation tasks.

4. International cooperation

a/ To formulate tasks of bilateral and multilateral cooperation with countries with an advanced bio-industry for rapidly approaching, making the acquaintance of, then mastering technologies of a modern agricultural biotechnology.

b/ To expand international cooperation and grasp opportunities for training leading officers and experts as well as raising the level of technological research and development in the field of biotechnology of the country, attaching importance to cooperation with countries with a developed bio-industry.

c/ To create favorable conditions for enterprises to enter into cooperation with, receive from, and transfer to, foreign countries technologies for industrial production of biotechnology products of competitive advantages.

d/ To support the purchase and transfer of copyrighted technologies and materials and hire foreign experts for necessary scientific research and agricultural biotechnology development tasks.

5. Information and communications

a/ To popularize and disseminate the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policies on development of agricultural bio-industry for making substantial changes in the awareness of authorities at all levels, sectors and the entire society about the role, position and importance of bio-industry in general and agricultural bio-industry in particular to the national industrialization and modernization, and developing bio-industry into a techno-economic industry with important contributions to national economic growth.

b/ To disseminate scientific research and technology transfer outcomes and introduce a model of agricultural bio-industry enterprise.

c/ To mobilize and encourage the use of home-made agricultural bio-industry products and build Vietnamese brands.

IV. FUNDS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SCHEME

1. Funding sources for implementation of the Scheme

a/ Funding sources for implementation of the Scheme include the state budget (funds reserved for development investment expenditures and regular expenditures); donation, aid, and other funds lawfully raised from domestic and foreign organizations and individuals in accordance with law.

b/ State budget funds for implementation of the Scheme shall be used for scientific research, development, application, transfer and mastery of technologies for industrial-scale production of agricultural biotechnology products; used as support for upgrading or building of key agricultural biotechnology laboratories and improvement of physical and technical foundations, machinery and equipment for agricultural biotechnology laboratories of research institutes and universities in regions.

2. Formulation of plans, estimation and management of funds

a/ For state budget funds

- Annual budget estimates and plans shall be formulated in accordance with the Law on the State Budget and Law on Public Investment and included in medium-term and annual budget estimates and plans of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

- Funds for implementation of the Scheme shall be managed under current regulations on management of development investment funds, funds for training, and funds for scientific and technological non-business activities; the management of scientific and technological tasks must comply with current regulations on management of national-level scientific and technological tasks.

b/ The estimation of funding sources other than state budget funds must comply with regulations applicable to each funding source.

V. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries, sectors and localities in, organizing the implementation of contents of the Scheme and send annual reports on implementation results to the Prime Minister.

To consolidate, and promulgate the Operation Regulation of, the Executive Board for implementation of the Scheme on the basis of the Executive Board of the Key Program for development and application of biotechnology in the field of agriculture and rural development through 2020 under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 11/2006/QD-TTg of January 12, 2006.

2. The Ministry of Planning and Investment

To balance and allocate funds reserved for development investment expenditures for implementation of the Scheme in accordance with the Law on Public Investment, Law on the State Budget, and relevant regulations on public investment.

3. The Ministry of Finance

a/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, allocating funds for state budget-covered regular expenditures according to current regulations on budget decentralization and the Law on the State Budget.

b/ To coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in formulating and issuing incentive policies for enterprises that invest in development of agricultural bio-industry.

4. The Ministry of Science and Technology

a/ To coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in developing science and technology to serve agricultural bio-industry, formulating plans on investment in key biotechnology laboratories, and increasing physical and technical foundations, machinery and equipment for scientific research and training institutions managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

b/ To summarize, and submit to competent authorities for allocation, funds for performance of scientific and technological tasks from state budget funds reserved for scientific and technological non-business activities under regulations;

c/ To formulate incentive mechanisms and policies in support of application of modern biotechnology research outcomes to production and trading of agricultural bio-industry products, and of transfer and import of technologies and technological know-how from foreign countries and development of an advanced technology market, and regulations on intellectual property in the field of agricultural bio-industry.

5. The Ministry of Education and Training

To coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in training human resources.

6. The Ministry of Industry and Trade

To coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in formulating incentive mechanisms and policies for enterprises that invest and operate in agricultural bio-industry.

7. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

To coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in reviewing and formulating policies on biosafety management for organisms biotechnology products in conformity with international commitments, and policies and laws of Vietnam.

8. Provincial-level People’s Committees

Based on contents of the Scheme, to concretize them into programs and plans for the 2021-2025 period with a vision to 2030 as suitable to their localities.

9. Ministries, sectors, localities and enterprises that wish to participate in performing the Scheme’s contents relating to their functions and tasks shall make registration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for consideration and coordination according to competence.

Article 2. This Decision takes effect on the date of its signing.

Article 3. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, other ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, and chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall implement this Decision.-

For the Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
TRINH DINH DUNG