Vietnam has remained an attractive market to investors all around the world for different reasons: political stability, focused investment on infrastructure development, continuous refinement of education and training, constant efforts to accelerate foreign investment and so on. In the lucrative market of Vietnam, Food & Beverage is indeed one of the most potential sectors since Vietnamese people are very willing to spend on foods and drinks, not only on a daily basis but also on special occasions.
Vietnam’s F&B market is one of the most attractive markets globally. Due to changing consumer behavior, more mobility, rising affluence, and urbanization, Vietnam is expected to be among the top three nations in Asia in terms of food and beverage development.
Vietnamese people, while still loving their locally-made goods, are very open-minded and not reluctant to try new, imported products. Speaking of which, Vietnam does have a few regulations regarding Food Product Registration. If you are interested in registering your food product, this article is for you!
Registering a Food Product in Vietnam: Self-Declaration or Registration of the product declaration
Enterprises and people selling and producing food can self-declare the quality and provenance of their products. Self-declaration means that these companies take full account for their food's safety and hygiene. The company just needs to make an announcement on their websites, or multimedia platforms or head offices declaring the safety of the product.
However, some food items need to be declared with the Ministry of Health due to their nature. It means that the company that wants to sell those food products has to register for Product Declaration before putting them on the market.
According to Article 6 of Decree 15/2018/ND-CP, the table below shows which food products come into the categories of self-declaration or registration for declaration:
Self-Declaration | Registration for declaration |
● Processed and prepackaged food ● Food additives ● Food processing aids ● Food containers ● Packaging materials in direct contact with food
| ● Health Supplement or Dietary Supplement ● Food for Special Medical Purposes or Medical Food ● Food for Special Dietary Uses ● Dietary products for children up to 36 months ● Mixed food additives with new uses, food additives that are not on the list of allowed additives or are not for the right users, regulated by MOH.
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Procedures for Self-Declaration and Declaration of Food Products
Food product self-declaration
General process of self-declaration for food items in Vietnam stated as the table right below:
Procedure | Timeline (working days from application submitted and accepted) | Required Documents |
Step 1: Get the Lab Test Result (issued within 12 months before the date of application submission) | 5-7 | 1. Enterprise Registration Certificate (ERC); 2. Product sample; |
Step 2: Submit Self-declaration to publish on the Food Safety Update Information System/ Competent state management agency system | 1 | 1. Self-declaration form (regulated template); 2. Lab Test Result (original) 3. Original label (in color) 4. Sub label (in Vietnamese) 5. Product specification (Vnese and English - if any) 6. CoA (Certificate of Analysis) (Vietnamese and English - if any) |
Step 3: Check Self-Declaration at Competent state management agency portals |
5-7 | |
Step 4: Self-declare your products on mass media, or website, or publicize at your head offices | Not specific | |
After this process, organizations and individuals have the right to manufacture and sell those items, and they bear full responsibility for the safety standard of the products.
At the custom, based on the type/quantity/purpose … of products, State inspection of imported food is required.
Registration for Food product declaration
General process of declaration for food products in Vietnam presented as the table right below:
Procedure | Timeline (working days from application submitted and accepted) | Required Documents |
Step 1: Get the Lab Test Result (issued within 12 months before the date of application submission) | 5-7
| 1. Enterprise Registration Certificate (ERC); 2. Product sample; |
Step 2: Submit Registration of Declaration to obtain the Receipt of Registration of Declaration | 7-21 (depending on products) | 1. Enterprise Registration Certificate (ERC) 2. Registration of Declaration form (regulated template); 3. Certificate of Free Sale or Certificate of Exportation or Health Certificate (legalized, Vietnamese translated, and then notarized); 4.Lab Test Result (original); 5. Scientific Specifications (original of first party verified copy of original); 6. Certificate of Food Safety Qualified Establishment meeting Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) (original of first party verified copy of original); 7. Original label (in color) 8. Sub label (in Vietnamese) 9. Product specification (Vietnamese and English - if any) 10. CoA (Certificate of Analysis) (Vietnamese and English - if any) 10. Authorized letter of product owner to manufacturer about the products produced |
Step 3: Check Registration of Declaration at MOH portal | 5-7 |
Note:
All the required documents must be in Vietnamese. If they are in foreign languages, they have to be translated into Vietnamese and get notarized.
If there are any changes in the product's name, origin, or ingredients, organizations and individuals have to do this self-declaration/registration for declaration procedure again. In case of any other changes, a written form regarding the modification must be sent out to the responsible authority.
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