[Updated] Vietnam to Amend Food Safety Law 2010, Requiring All Food Products to Register Product Declarations

Updated on November 18, 2024:

In November 2024, Vietnam's Ministry of Health (MOH) issued a document detailing feedback from other ministries, industrial associations, and enterprises regarding the proposal for the Food Safety Law, along with the Ministry's responses to these stakeholders. For example, the MOH emphasizes the necessity of "requiring all food products to register product declarations" before the goods enter the market. Additionally, the Ministry explains that the drafting agency will retain provisions in the Decree 15/2018/ND-CP concerning state inspection methods for food safety, which include strict inspection, regular inspection, and reduced inspection.

For further feedback, please submit your opinions on this page by December 11, 2024.

As per an official notice issued on August 15, 2024,  the Vietnam Food Administration (VFA) is soliciting public feedback on amendments to Vietnam’s Food Safety Law 2010 (hereinafter FSL 2010).

Necessity to Amend the FSL 2010

Vietnam's current FSL was initially issued on June 17, 2010 and came into effect on July 1, 2011. As explained by the VFA, although the FSL 2010 and its implementation rules have created a positive business environment, they are not adaptable to the current social and economic conditions, and the demands for a better and more advanced food safety legal system. For example:

• The number of Vietnam's national technical standards is limited.

• There is a lack of food safety management regulations, such as the regulation on the food safety criteria for plant-origin food and regulations for traditional local foods in Vietnam.

• Certain regulations are not yet consistent and are difficult to implement, as they are subject to the jurisdiction of different ministries.

The revised FSL aims to address these problems and implement commitments on eliminating technical barriers to trade in free trade agreements that Vietnam has signed, participated in, and is negotiating, such as the CPTPP Agreement, EVFTA Agreement, RCEP Agreement, and ASEAN Agreement.

Key Amendments

1. Definition and term

The draft proposes to further define and amend concepts related to business investment conditions, food safety, food processing, and food preliminary processing. It will add the concepts of "small-scale food production and trading", "food ingredients", "processed food", "post-inspection", "registration declaration", "utensils, packaging materials, and food containers"; amend the concepts of "production" and "business" to be consistent with other laws; etc.

2. Product declaration requirements

In the current regulatory framework in Vietnam, food products are subject to one of two pre-market requirements: "self-declaration" or "product declaration registration". Most prepackaged food products are supervised under the "self-declaration" model, which has a relatively low market access barrier. Under this system, enterprises primarily need to prepare and publish the product declaration information on their own. On the other hand, certain food products, such as health supplements and novel food additives, are subject to more stringent "product declaration registration" requirements. For these products, enterprises must prepare a more extensive set of dossiers and register the product declaration with the authorities before they can be circulated in the market. (Read more at Food-pedia: Food Regulations in Vietnam)

The draft now requires all foods, food additives, and food contact materials (utensils, packaging materials and containers for food uses) to get their product declaration registered with the authority before circulating in the market. The validity period is 5 years. This move is to enhance product supervision, as there are currently many foods circulating in the Vietnam market with incorrect or missing product declaration steps due to the low market access barrier of self-declaration. The proposal also intends to empower the government to prescribe the procedures for revoking product declaration registrations. Additional requirements would also be proposed on the applicants, namely, the manufacturer, any organization authorized by the manufacturer, and the foreign representative office of the manufacturer in Vietnam.

To summarize, this change regarding product declaration will affect most prepackaged foods that are previously managed under the "self declaration" model. Stakeholders shall stay tuned with ChemLinked to obtain the following updates and prepare in advance.

3. Quality management system for food production & Periodic testing

Requirements for food production are supplemented. The draft proposes that:

• The production of health supplements shall follow GMP requirements.

• HACCP and ISO 22000 are required to be followed for the production of a) medical nutrition foods for special medical purposes,  b) nutritional products for children up to 36 months of age, and c) supplemented food.

• Other food establishments must be granted a Certificate of Satisfaction of Food Safety Conditions.

In addition, the requirement for periodic testing is added. Facilities following GMP, HACCP, or ISO 22000 should be periodically tested once every 12 months; other facilities should be tested once every 6 months to ensure product safety and quality. Moreover, online food trading (via the internet) would be under more requirements.

4. Certificate of satisfaction of food safety conditions

The draft proposes to simplify the application process for the “Certificate of satisfaction of food safety conditions” for enterprises. For example, the draft suggests removing the requirement to submit a copy of the business registration certificate, as this information can now be checked electronically.

Additionally, the draft will supplement the regulations to include provisions for post-inspection activities and procedures for revoking the certificate.

5. Imported food products

For imported products, it is supplemented that imported foods, food additives, food processing aids, and food contact materials must complete the custom declaration prior to the importation to Vietnam. The test methods for different types of food products will be stipulated in the future.

6. Advertising

The draft would supplement the content that must be confirmed before advertising and add additional requirements for registering the advertising content.

7. State management authority

Currently, the food safety regulatory landscape in Vietnam involves multiple government agencies overseeing different aspects of the market and different food products. For example, the Ministry of Health is the central body directing overall food safety efforts, but specific food product categories fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), and the Ministry of Health (MOH). (Read more at Food-pedia: Food Regulations in Vietnam)

This fragmented management model has led to challenges in enforcement and reduced efficiency in practice. To address these issues, Vietnam intends to establish a unified organization responsible for food safety management.

The draft is planned to be submitted to the National Congress in May 2025. Public opinions can be submitted to this page before September 16, 2024. For translation or consulting service, please email [email protected].