Vietnam Food Administration Issues Instruction on the Management of Self-Declaration and Product Declaration Registration

Currently in Vietnam, food traders must complete the product declaration for their goods before placing them on the market. To be specific, there are primarily two modes of product declaration based on different product types, as outlined in Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP, which details the implementation of various articles of the Law on Food Safety (later partially amended by Decree No. 155/2018/ND-CP).

Table 1: Two modes of product declaration for foods in Vietnam

Declaration Type	Product Self-Declaration	Product Declaration Registration
Applicable Products	Most prepackaged processed foods Food additives and processing aids Food containers and food contact materials	Health protection food (also called health supplement or dietary supplement), medical foods, and foods for special dietary uses Dietary products for children up to 36 months Novel food additives
Receiving Authority (Article 8 of Decree 15/2018)	The Ministry of Health is responsible for declarations of health protection foods, mixed food additives with new uses, and unregistered food additives The Provincial People's Committee is responsible for: Organizing the reception and management of self-declaration dossiers for pre-packaged processed foods, food additives, food processing aids, and food containers. Issuing Certificates of Registration for declarations of medical foods and foods for special dietary uses, including nutritional products for children up to 36 months. (Applications may be submitted to either authority if they include products listed in both sections.)

Declaration Type

Product Self-Declaration

Product Declaration Registration

Applicable Products

Most prepackaged processed foods
Food additives and processing aids
Food containers and food contact materials

Health protection food (also called health supplement or dietary supplement), medical foods, and foods for special dietary uses
Dietary products for children up to 36 months
Novel food additives

Receiving Authority (Article 8 of Decree 15/2018)

The Ministry of Health is responsible for declarations of health protection foods, mixed food additives with new uses, and unregistered food additives

The Provincial People's Committee is responsible for:

Organizing the reception and management of self-declaration dossiers for pre-packaged processed foods, food additives, food processing aids, and food containers.
Issuing Certificates of Registration for declarations of medical foods and foods for special dietary uses, including nutritional products for children up to 36 months.

(Applications may be submitted to either authority if they include products listed in both sections.)

Read more at ChemLinked Food-Pedia: Vietnam Food Regulation

As per an official news issued on November 25, 2024, recently, the Vietnam Food Administration (VFA) has received lots of reports and concerns from organizations and individuals regarding self-declaration and registration of product declarations under local management authority. To strengthen the management of product declarations under local authority, VFA issued Official Dispatch No. 2792/ATTP-SP, requesting local authorities to implement the following actions:

1. Enhance the implementation of receiving self-declarations, and registering product declarations as below.

No.	Issues	Legal basis to follow
1	Regarding the classification of products as supplemented food or health protection foods	For product classification, refer to Article 3 of Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP (partially amended by Decree No. 155/2018/ND-CP) and Article 2 of Circular No. 43/2014/TT-BYT dated November 24, 2014, from the Ministry of Health on the management of functional foods (later partially revised by Circular No. 17/2023/TT-BYT). Classification is determined by the content of product labeling, ingredients, usage instructions, and other relevant information.
2	Regarding the procedures for self-declaration and registration of product declarations	Refer to Article 5 (Self-Declaration) and Article 7 (Registration of Product Declaration) of Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP.
3	Regarding the translation of documents attached to the declaration dossier	Documents must be translated into Vietnamese and notarized according to Clause 3, Article 7 of Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP.
4	Regarding the content of the Certificate of Free Sale (CFS) / Health Certificate (HC) / Certificate of Export (CE)	They must comply with Point b, Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP. For the CFS, it must also align with Clause 3, Article 10 of Decree 69/2018/ND-CP dated May 15, 2018.
5	Regarding the validity period of the product declaration receipt and periodic testing time	Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP does not specify the validity period for the Product Declaration Registration Receipt or the periodic testing time. It requires testing for food safety criteria but does not mandate testing for quality criteria. However, for health-protecting foods (i.e., health supplements or dietary supplements), the main quality criteria must be declared in Section II of the Product Declaration as specified in Form No. 02 of Appendix I issued with Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP. Test results must come from a laboratory accredited to ISO 17025 and conducted within 12 months prior to the submission of the application.
6	Regarding tolerable limits for vitamins and minerals	According to Circular No. 43/2014/TT-BYT, for supplemented foods, they must achieve 10% RNI as specified in Appendix No. 1 of Circular No. 43/2014/TT-BYT and must not exceed the maximum tolerable limits outlined in Appendix No. 2 of Circular No. 43/2014/TT-BYT.

2. Strengthen post-inspection activities after organizations and individuals completing the product declaration, to prevent incorrect or incompleted product declarations. This should focus on inspecting and reviewing e-commerce platforms, e-commerce applications, and websites selling functional food products.

3. Organize communication, training, and guidance for organizations and individuals on how to classify products subject to self-declaration and product declaration registration.

4. Establish a management database in the area of self-declaration and product declarations registration under local authority that connects with the national database.

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