15 2018 ND-CP 375807
15 2018 ND-CP 375807
15 2018 ND-CP 375807
DECREE
The Government promulgates a Decree to elaborate some Articles of the Law of Food safety.
Chapter I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Scope
This Decree elaborates some Articles of the Law of Food safety on:
6. Food labeling.
7. Food advertisements.
This Decree applies to Vietnamese and foreign organizations and individuals that produce or sell foods
in Vietnam; organizations and individuals whose operation involve food safety in Vietnam.
Article 3. Definitions
For the purpose of this Decree, the following terms are construed as follows:
1. 1) “dietary supplement” means a product used as a supplement to the daily diet to improve user’s
health and immunity. Dietary supplement may contain one or more of the following substances:
a) Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, enzymes, probiotics and other biologically active
substances;
b) Substances derived from animals, minerals, plants in the form of extracts, isolates, concentrates or
metabolites;
Dietary supplements may be in the form of soft gels, pellets, tablets, granules, powder, liquid and other
dosage form divided into smaller doses.
2. “medical food” or “food for special medical purposes” means a food that can be consumed orally or
tube feeding, prescribed to regulate the patient’s diet, the use of which has to be supervised by a health
worker.
3. “food for special dietary uses” means food for people on a diet, elderly people and other users
defined by Codex Alimentarius, processed or formulated to satisfy particular dietary requirements
which exist because of a particular physical or physiological conditions and/or specific disease and
disorder of the user. The composition of this kind of food differs significantly from that of ordinary
foods of comparable nature, if such ordinary foods exist.
4. “scientific evidence” means scientific documents and information from researches accepted by
competent authorities or published in Vietnamese or foreign academic journals or articles about
traditional medicine in academic prints.
5. “goods owner” means the organization or individual responsible for the goods specified in the
declaration or self declaration of products, or the organization or individual authorized to import or
export food products.
6. “exports and imports” are food products of the same category, names, labels, producers and
packaging materials.
7. “shipment” means the entire food products of an export or import shipment (in the same bill of
lading). A shipment may comprise a single or multiple commodities.
8. “micro food manufacturer” means a household or individual that obtains food ingredients by means
of farming, breeding, fishing or collecting with or without a certificate of enterprise registration.
9. “micro food processor” means a household or individual that processes food with or without a
certificate of enterprise registration.
10. “micro food business” means an individual, a group of individual or a household that has registered
as a business household and does not have the certificate of business registration, certificate of
enterprise registration and investment registration certificate.
Chapter II
1. Food manufacturers and food sellers (hereinafter referred to as “suppliers”) shall prepare self-
declaration of pre-packaged processed foods, food additives, food processing aids, food containers,
primary packages of foods (hereinafter referred to as “products”) other than the commodities specified
in Clause 2 of this Article and Article 6 of this Article.
2. Products, raw materials that are manufactured or imported for production or processing of exports or
internal production and are not sold domestically are exempt from self-declaration.
b) Original copy or certified true copy of the food safety data sheet issued within 12 months before the
self-declaration is made by an designated laboratory or a laboratory complying with ISO 17025; the
data sheet must specify safety indicators prescribed by the Ministry of Health according to risk
management principles under international regulations (or standards applied by the supplier if relevant
regulations of the Ministry of Health are not available).
2. Self-declaration procedures:
a) The self-declaration shall be posted through mass media or the producer’s website or premises; 01
copy of the self-declaration shall be submitted, directly or by post, to regulatory authority designated
by the People’s Committee of the province (hereinafter referred to as “receiving authority”);
b) Right after the self-declaration is submitted, the supplier is entitled to manufacture and sell the
product and assume full responsibility for the safety of such product;
c) The receiving authority shall post the self-declaration and the product names therein on its website.
If the supplier has more than one factory that produces the same product, self-declaration documents
shall be submitted to the regulatory authority of one of the provinces of the supplier’s choice. Once
selected, self-declaration documents shall be submitted to the same authority.
4. In case of change to the product name, origin or ingredients, the supplier shall submit another self-
declaration. In case of other changes, the supplier shall submit a written notification to the receiving
authority and is entitled to carry on the production or sale of the product afterwards.
Chapter III
3. Mixed food additives with new uses, food additives that are not on the list of permitted food
additives compiled by the Ministry of Health (hereinafter referred to as “unregistered food additives”).
b) The Certificate of Free Sale, Certificate of Exportation or Health Certificate issued by a competent
authority of the country of origin/exporting country, which assures safety of users or permit free sale of
the products in the country of origin/exporting country (the certificate must be consularly legalized);
c) Original copy or certified true copy of the food safety data sheet issued within 12 months before the
self-declaration is made by an designated laboratory or a laboratory complying with ISO 17025; the
data sheet must specify safety indicators prescribed by the Ministry of Health according to risk
management principles under international regulations (or standards applied by the supplier if relevant
regulations of the Ministry of Health are not available)
d) Documents about scientific evidence of the effects of the product or ingredients (original or
authenticated copy). If scientific evidence of effects of the ingredients is used, the daily dose must be
greater or equal to 15% of the content of such ingredients mentioned in the document;
dd) The certificate of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) or an equivalent certificate if the imports
are dietary supplements, applicable from July 01, 2019 (a copy authenticated by the supplier).
b) Original copy or certified true copy of the food safety data sheet issued within 12 months before the
self-declaration is made by an designated laboratory or a laboratory complying with ISO 17025; the
data sheet must specify safety indicators prescribed by the Ministry of Health according to risk
management principles under international regulations (or standards applied by the supplier if relevant
regulations of the Ministry of Health are not available);
c) Scientific evidence of the effects of the product or ingredients (original or authenticated copy). If
scientific evidence of effects of the ingredients is used, the daily dose must be greater or equal to 15%
of the content of such ingredients mentioned in the document;
d) The certificate of food safety if one is required (a copy authenticated by the supplier);
dd) The certificate of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) if the domestic products are dietary
supplements, applicable from July 01, 2019 (a copy authenticated by the supplier).
3. The documents must be written in Vietnamese language; documents in other languages must be
translated into Vietnamese language and notarized. The documents must be unexpired when the
application is submitted.
1. The supplier shall submit the application for registration of the product declaration, whether online,
by post or directly, to the following receiving authorities:
a) The Ministry of Health for declarations of dietary supplements and unregistered food additives;
b) A competent authority designated by the People’s Committee of the province for medical foods,
food for special dietary uses and dietary products for children up to 36 months;
c) In the cases where the declaration includes of the products mentioned in both Point a and Point b of
this Clause, the application may be submitted to either receiving authority.
If the supplier has more than one factory that produces the same product, the declaration may be
registered to the regulatory authority of one of the provinces of the supplier’s choice (except for
products that have to be registered to the Ministry of Health). Once selected, the next applications for
registration shall be submitted to the same authority.
2. Within 07 working days (for unregistered food additives, medical foods, food for special dietary
uses, dietary products for children up to 36 months) or 21 working days (for dietary supplements) from
the day on which adequate documents are received, the receiving authority specified in Clause 1 of this
Article shall verify the application and issue a certificate of registered product declaration (Form No.
03 in Appendix I hereof).
The time limit for document verification begins on the date of receipt according to the online public
service system (if the application is submitted online) or date stamp of the receiving authority (if the
application is submitted by post or directly).
3. If the application needs to be supplemented, the receiving authority shall provide explanation in
writing and specify the legal basis. The receiving authority may request the applicant to supplement the
application 01 time.
Within 07 working days from the day on which the supplemented application is received, the receiving
authority shall verify it and make a written response. If the applicant fails to supplement the application
within 90 working days from the day on which a written request is made, the application will be
invalidated.
4. In case of change to the product name, origin or ingredients, another application shall be submitted.
In case of other changes, the applicant shall submit a written notification to the receiving authority
mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article and is entitled to carry on the production or sale of the product
afterwards.
5. The receiving authority shall post on its website and update on the food safety database the names
and products of suppliers whose product declarations have been registered.
6. Food suppliers shall pay fees for document verifications in accordance with regulations of law on
fees and charges.
Chapter IV
Article 9. Assurance of safety of food derived from genetically modified organisms (GMO) and
GMO products
Conditions and procedures for issuance and revocation of the certificate of edible GMO and the list of
GMOs granted such certificate are specified in the Government's Decree No. 69/2010/ND-CP and
Decree No. 108/2011/ND-CP.
Article 10. Labeling of goods containing GMO and GMO products used as foods
1. Manufacturers and sellers of foods the content of GM ingredients in which exceeds 5% of total
ingredients, in addition to compliance with common regulations of law on goods labeling, the goods
label must contain information about the GMOs, except for the cases specified in Clause 2 of this
Article.
Chapter V
1. Every food manufacturer and seller must obtain the certificate of food safety, except for those
specified in Clause 1 Article 12 of this Decree.
2. Requirements for issuance of the certificate of food safety are specified in Clause 1 Article 34 of the
Law of Food safety. Manufacturers of dietary supplements shall apply the requirements specified in
Article 28 of this Decree.
1. The following entities are not required to obtain the certificate of food safety:
e) Manufacturers and sellers of instruments and materials for wrapping and storing food;
k) Any food business that has one of the following certificates: GMP, HACCP, ISO 22000, IFS, BRC,
FSSC 22000 or an equivalent certificate.
2. The entities mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article must satisfy corresponding food safety
requirements.
Chapter VI
Article 13. Cases in which state inspection of food safety is exempted unless there if a food safety
warning
2. Foods in hand luggage of inbound passengers that are sent before or after the passengers arrive to
serve the passengers’ personal needs; gifts within duty-free allowances.
5. Test samples whose quantities are suitable for the testing purposes and confirmed by the owners.
7. Products, raw materials that are manufactured or imported for production or processing of exports or
internal production and are not sold domestically.
9. Imports serving emergency purposes under orders of the Government or the Prime Minister.
Article 14. Requirements applied to imported products derived from terrestrial animals, aquatic
animals and plants
1. Products derived from terrestrial animals, aquatic animals and plants must satisfy the following
requirements, except for foods that are processed or prepackaged, foods exported by a Vietnamese
organization or individual but then returned, and foods in the cases specified in Article 13 of this
Decree:
a) Their country of origin is a country or territory that has a food safety control system satisfying
Vietnam’s regulations and included in the list of registered countries and territories that export foods
derived from animals, plans and aquatic animals to Vietnam;
b) Terrestrial animals and aquatic animals used as foods must be manufactured by facilities that satisfy
food safety requirements as certified by Vietnamese authorities;
c) Each shipment has a certificate of food safety issued by a competent authority of the exporting
country (except for fish caught and processed by foreign vessels and sold to Vietnam’s market).
2. Procedures for registration of the exporting countries and territories (hereinafter referred to as
“exporting countries”) mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article are specified in Article 22 of this Decree.
3. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall provide the customs authorities with the
list of exporting countries and exporters allowed to export the aforementioned products to Vietnam
(hereinafter referred to as “list of permitted exporting countries and exporters”).
1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall appoint authorities responsible for
inspection of food safety of imported foods (hereinafter referred to as “inspecting authorities”).
In the cases where the content of a shipment is under the management of more than one Ministry, the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall be the inspecting authority.
a) Decide to switch over from regular inspection to reduced inspection and switch back to normal
inspection after the results of 03 tightened inspections is satisfactory.
b) Carry out food inspection in accordance with the methods and procedures specified in this Decree;
e) Comply with instructions from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade;
g) Settle complaints of goods owners. Pay the inspection and testing fees and compensation for any
damage to the goods owners;
h) Retain inspection documents and present them at the request of competent authorities;
i) Submit biannual reports to the supervisory Ministry (form 06 in Appendix I hereof) and ad hoc
reports to the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of
Industry and Trade or a competent authority of the manufacturer’s home country, or reports on disposal
of disqualified foods.
a) There is a certificate of food safety issued by the competent authority of a country that has entered a
mutual recognition agreement regarding food safety inspection to which Vietnam is also a signatory;
the inspection result given by the competent authority of the exporting country is satisfactory;
c) The manufacturer applies either GMP, HACCP, ISO 22000, IFS, BRC, FSSC 22000 or an
equivalent system.
2. Normal inspection applies to all commodities of the shipment, except for the cases specified in
Clause 1 and Clause 3 of this Article.
b) A shipment or commodity fails to meet requirements during the inspections (if any);
c) A warning is issued by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,
the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the People’s Committee of the province or a competent authority of
a foreign country or the manufacturer’s home country.
4. The tightened inspection will be changed into normal inspection in the following cases:
a) The results of 03 consecutive tightened inspection are satisfactory in the cases specified in Point a
and Point b Clause 3 of this Article;
b) The Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development or the Ministry of
Industry and Trade of Vietnam issues a request for suspension of tightened inspection in the cases
specified in Point c Clause 3 of this Article.
c) For products derived from aquatic animals and terrestrial animals, except for processed or
prepackaged products, the original copy of the certificate of fulfillment of food safety requirements
issued by a competent authority of the exporting country.
2. An application for normal inspection and tightened inspection consists of the following documents:
c) Original copies of 03 notices of satisfactory results of consecutive tightened inspections (to switch
over from tightened inspection to normal inspection).
dd) For the products mentioned in Article 14 of this Decree, the original copy of the certificate of
fulfillment of food safety requirements issued by a competent authority of the exporting country,
except for fish caught and processed by foreign vessels and sold to Vietnam’s market.
While following customs procedures, the goods owner shall submit an application according to Clause
1 Article 18 of this Decree;
b) The customs authority shall carry out document inspection of up to 5% of the shipments eligible for
reduced inspection within 01 year.
Within 03 working days from the receipt of the application, the customs authority shall process it and
consider granting customs clearance. If the application has to be supplemented, explanation and legal
basis must be provided.
a) Before the shipment arrives at the border checkpoint, he goods owner shall submit the application
according to Clause 2 Article 18 of this Decree to the inspecting authority or National Single-window
Information Portal of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development or the
Ministry of Industry and Trade (if applied);
b) Within 03 working days from the receipt of the application, the customs authority shall process it
and issue a notice of whether the inspection result is satisfactory (form No. 05 of Appendix I hereof). If
the application has to be supplemented, explanation and legal basis must be provided;
c) The goods owner shall submit the notice of satisfactory inspection result to the customs authority to
be granted customs clearance.
c) The goods owner shall submit the notice of satisfactory inspection result to the customs authority to
be granted customs clearance.
4. If the inspection result is not satisfactory, the inspecting authority shall take appropriate measures in
accordance with Clause 3 Article 55 of the Law of Food safety and submit a report on disposal of
unconformable foods to the supervisory Ministry.
1. After unconformable foods are disposed of under the decision issued by the inspecting authority, the
goods owner shall submit the following documents to the inspecting authority and the receiving
authority:
c) The repurposing contract between the goods owner and the buyer or recipient of the unconformable
products. The buyer or recipient of the unconformable products must not use them as foods.
2. If the goods owner wishes to import the products to Vietnam after rectifying the violations or label,
the goods owner shall follow apply for inspection in accordance with Article 19 of this Decree.
If the inspection result is still unsatisfactory after rectification, one of the measures specified in Point c
and Point d Clause 3 Article 55 of the Law of Food safety shall be implemented.
1. Request reduced inspection in the cases specified in Clause 1 Article 17 of this Decree.
2. Request the inspecting authority to reconsider the inspection result or request the receiving authority
to select a designated laboratory to carry out a re-inspection. If the result of the re-inspection matches
the initial result, the goods owner shall pay the re-inspection cost; if the result of re-inspection is
satisfactory, the goods owner will be reimbursed for the re-inspection cost.
3. Propose the measures specified in Clause 3 Article 55 of the Law of Food safety if the inspection
result is unsatisfactory.
4. Maintain the status quo of the shipment to facilitate sampling by the inspecting authority.
Article 22. Procedures for registration of the exporting countries and exporters; state inspection
of food safety in the exporting country
1. A competent authority of Vietnam shall develop an inspection plan, inform and cooperate with the
competent authority of the exporting country in inspecting the food safety control system of the
exporting country and the exporter as follows:
a) The competent authority of the exporting country shall send 01 application to the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development, including information about its management system (laws,
standards, food safety control system) and its capacity for food safety control according to form No. 08
in Appendix I hereof; a list of registered exports (form No. 07 in Appendix I) and information about
their fulfillment of food safety requirements (form No. 09 in Appendix I).
b) within 30 working days from the day on which adequate documents are received according to Point
a of this Clause, the competent authorities of the exporting country and the supervisory Ministry shall
verify them, inform the competent authority of the exporting country of the verification result and the
inspection plan if inspection of the exporting country is necessary;
c) The inspection in the exporting country deals with: regulations of law on food safety management
and control; capacity of food safety authorities of the exporting country; fulfillment of food safety
requirements by the registered exporters.
2. Processing of inspection result and publishing of the list of eligible exporting countries and
exporters:
a) if a site inspection in the exporting country is not necessary, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development shall publish the inspection result and list of countries and territories eligible to export to
Vietnam. For products derived from terrestrial animals and aquatic animals, a list of permissible
exporters shall also be published;
b) If a site inspection in the exporting country is necessary, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development shall publish the inspection result within 30 working days from the end of the inspection.
If the inspection result is not satisfactory, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall
issue a notice and provide specific explanation.
c) For addition of eligible exporters of products derived from terrestrial animals and aquatic animals,
the competent authority of the exporting country shall submit an application for document inspection or
site inspection which contains a list and information about the exporters according to form No. 07 and
form No. 08 mentioned in Point a Clause 1 of this Article to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development. The inspection result is the basis for addition of eligible exporters.
1. The Minister of Health, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural development, the Minister of Industry
and Trade shall specify the power to carry out state inspection of safety of foods for export under their
management in accordance with Article 62 through 64 of the Law of Food safety at the request of the
importing country.
2. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall specify responsibility to inspect shipments
of foods under the management of more than one Ministry.
Chapter VII
FOOD LABELING
1. Manufacturers and sellers of foods in Vietnam, in addition to common regulations of law on goods
labeling, shall comply with the following regulations:
a) The label of medical food shall contain the phrase "Thực phẩm dinh dưỡng y học” (“medical food”)
and “Sử dụng cho người bệnh với sự giám sát của nhân viên y tế” (“used under supervision of health
workers”);
b) The front label of food for special dietary uses shall contain the phrase “Sản phẩm dinh dưỡng (cho
đối tượng cụ thể)”.
2. The label of imported products must specify: name and address of the importer, the organization or
individual that submits the declaration or registers the self-declaration of products.
1. The secondary label is not required for goods in hand luggage serving personal use or meant as gifts
within the duty-free allowance; imports of entities eligible for diplomatic immunity; goods in transit,
temporarily imported goods; goods in bonded warehouses; test samples; goods for display at an
exhibition or fair; raw materials imported for production or processing of exports or internal use and
not sold domestically.
2. In addition to seasoning and herbs, small packages whose surface area is smaller than 10 cm2 does
not have to specify ingredients, expiration date, storage conditions and instruction for use if there is a
secondary label or secondary package which contains such information.
3. The date of manufacturing is not required on food containers and primary packages.
Chapter VIII
FOOD ADVERTISEMENTS
2. Dietary products for children up to 36 months not banned from advertising according to Article 7 of
the Law on Advertising.
The registration of food advertisement contents shall comply with advertising laws and the following
regulations:
1. Before advertising, the owner of the advertised product shall register the advertisement content to the
authority that issued the certificate of product registration.
2. The advertisement content must be consistent with the effects of the product specified in the product
declaration. Do not use images, equipment, uniforms, documents of health facilities, physicians,
pharmacists, health workers, patients’ appreciation letter, articles written by health facilities, physicians
or pharmacists to advertise foods.
a) It is required to have the text “Thực phẩm này không phải là thuốc và không có tác dụng thay thế
thuốc chữa bệnh” (equivalent to “this product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any
disease”), which must be written clearly and has a contrasting color with the background;
b) The text in Point a above must be read aloud in case of audio and video advertisements;
c) The text mentioned in Point a above is not required if the duration of an audio or video
advertisement is shorter than 15 seconds, but must be displayed during the advertisement.
b) The certificate of registered product declaration and the product declaration certified by a competent
authority (a copy certified by the applicant);
d) For audio or video advertisement, a disc that contains the advertisement script; For other types of
advertisement, a maquette (certified by the applicant);
d) The uses or effects other than those written in the product declaration must be proven by scientific
documents (copies certified by the applicant);
The documents must be written in Vietnamese language; documents in other languages must be
translated into Vietnamese language and notarized.
a) The owner of the advertised product shall submit the application for the certificate of advertisement
content to the authority that issued the certificate of registered product declaration;
b) Within 10 working days from the receipt of the satisfactory application, the receiving authority shall
process it and issue form No. 11 in Appendix I hereof. The aforementioned time limit is determined
according to the date stamp of the receiving authority (if the application is sent by post) or the date of
receipt on the online public service system.
If advertisement content is not concurred with or the application has to be supplemented, the receiving
authority shall provide explanation in writing and specify the legal basis. The receiving authority may
request the applicant to supplement the application 01 time.
Within 10 working days from the day on which the supplemented application is received, the receiving
authority shall process it and make a written response. If the application fails to supplement the
application within 90 working days from the day on which a written request is made, the application
will be invalidated;
c) The receiving authority shall post on its website and update on the food safety database the products
that have the certificate of advertisement contents and names of their suppliers;
d) The applicant shall pay the fee for application processing to the receiving authority.
6. The owner of the advertised product and the advertiser may only advertise the product after having
obtained the certificate of advertisement contents and must adhere to the content of the certificate.
Chapter IX
1. Manufacturers of dietary supplements shall satisfy general food safety conditions specified in Clause
1 Article 19, Clause 1 Article 20 and Clause 1 Article 21 of the Law of Food safety and the following
regulations:
a) Establish and maintain a quality control system which control the manufacture and distribution in
order to ensure that all products satisfy the applied standards and are safe until their expiration;
b) Hire employees whose qualifications are suitable for their positions and are trained in GMP, food
safety and relevant knowledge. The head of the production department and quality control department
must be full-time employees and work independently from one another. The chief supervisor of the
facility must have at least a bachelor’s degree in medicine, pharmacy, nutrition, food safety or food
processing technology and 3 years' working experience in a relevant field;
c) The factory, equipment and auxiliary utilities are installed suitable for their purposes, following one-
way rules, easy to clean, not confusing, able to prevent dust, pollution and other elements detrimental
to product quality. They must be cleaned on a daily basis;
d) Retain documents about the manufacture process, quality control and distribution in a manner that
the history of every batch can be accessed, and documents about other activities at the facility;
dd) All tasks must be performed in accordance with procedures and instructions. Carry out inspections
and supervision during the manufacture process to avoid confusion, pollution and cross-contamination.
Record the result immediately after a process is done;
e) Establish a quality control department to ensure that the products are manufactured under
conformable conditions and processes; necessary tests are run; use of raw materials and sale of
products are not approved before the quality is satisfactory; product stability must be monitored;
g) In case of testing or production under a contract, the contractor shall have adequate equipment and
personnel to satisfy requirements of the hirer, satisfy requirements for testing or production of dietary
supplement established by a competent authority.
h) There are procedures for complaint settlement, product recall, self-inspection; documents about
these tasks must be retained in full.
2. The Ministry of Health shall provide instructions on application of GMP requirements to dietary
supplements.
3. From July 01, 2019, manufacturers of dietary supplements shall satisfy GMP requirements in
accordance with instructions from the Ministry of Health.
Article 29. Procedures for issuance and reissuance of the certificate of GMP for dietary
supplements
1. An application for the certificate of GMP for dietary supplements consists of the following
documents:
b) A floor plan of the production area and production lines (certified by the applicant);
a) An application specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be submitted to the Ministry of Health
directly, by post or through the online public service system;
b) Within 15 working days from the receipt of the satisfactory application, the receiving authority shall
establish an inspectorate, which will to carry out a site inspection and issue the inspection record
according to form No. 13 in Appendix I hereof.
The inspectorate shall consist of at least 5 people, 2 of whom are experienced in GMP, and 1 person is
specialized in testing.
c) If the inspection result is satisfactory, the receiving authority shall issue the certificate of GMP for
dietary supplements (Form No. 14 in Appendix I hereof) within 30 days from the receipt of the
application;
d) If the inspection result is not satisfactory, explanation shall be provided in the inspection record.
After rectification, the applicant shall send a notice to the inspectorate. Within 07 working days from
the receipt of such notice, the inspectorate shall consider and request the Ministry of Health to issue the
certificate of GMP for dietary supplements. If rectification is not done within 03 months from the end
of the inspection or a notice of rectification is not sent to the inspectorate, the application shall be
rejected.
3. A certificate of GMP for dietary supplements is valid for 03 years from its date of issuance. At least
06 months before expiration of the certificate, the certificate holder shall submit an application for its
reissuance. Documents and procedures for reissuance are the same as those specified in Clause 1 and
Clause 2 of this Article.
4. Applicants for the certificate of GMP for dietary supplements shall pay fees for document processing
to the receiving authority.
Chapter X
Manufacturers and sellers of food additives shall satisfy the following food safety requirements:
1. Satisfy general food safety requirements specified in specified in Clause 1 Article 19, Clause 1
Article 20 and Clause 1 Article 21 of the Law of Food safety.
2. Only mix food additives on the list of permitted food additives complied by the Ministry of Health,
provided the mixture does not cause any harm to human health. In the cases where a new product with
new effects is created, such effects, intended users and dose must be proven.
3. Packaging of food additives shall be carried out at a facility that satisfies food safety requirements.
Food additives must be labeled in accordance with applicable law.
1. Foods on in the list of permitted food additives compiled by the Ministry of Health shall be self-
declared.
2. Procedures for declaration of single-ingredient food additives are specified in Article 5 of this
Decree.
1. Product declarations of mixed food additives with new uses shall be registered at the Ministry of
Health.
2. Content of every ingredient in a mixed food additive with new uses must be specified.
3. Procedures for registration of product declaration of mixed food additives with new uses are
specified in Article 7 and Article 8 of this Decree.
Article 33. Use of food additives
1. Only use the food additives on the list of permitted food additives compiled by the Ministry of
Health. Product declarations of food additives that are not on the list of permitted food additives
compiled by the Ministry of Health shall be submitted to the Ministry of Health in accordance with
Article 7 and Article 8 of this Decree.
2. Use food additives within permissible limits, for appropriate types of foods; only use food additives
that have clear origins and are unexpired; satisfy administrative and technical requirements applied to
food additives.
Chapter XI
The manufacturer or seller, upon discovery that a food being manufactured or sold is not safe or at the
request of a competent authority, shall trace its origin in accordance with Clause 1 and Clause 2 Article
54 of the Law of Food safety.
1. Food manufacturers and sellers shall retain information about manufacturers or suppliers of products
and buyers (if any) in the form of contracts, logbooks or other methods to serve origin tracing.
Information serving origin tracing includes:
2. The Minister of Health, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural development, the Minister of Industry
and Trade shall promulgate specific regulations on tracing origins of products under their management.
Chapter XII
Article 36. Rules for determination of responsibility for state management of food safety
1. Conformity with the Law of Food safety and relevant legislative documents.
7. Distribution of responsibility for state management of food safety between central and local
authorities.
8. Regarding a manufacturer whose products are under the management of more than one authority, the
authority that is responsible for the largest quantity of the products shall be the supervisory authority.
9. Regarding a seller whose products are under the management of more than one authority, the
Ministry of Industry and Trade shall be the supervisory authority, except for wholesale farm produce
markets
10. A facility that both manufactures and sells products that are under the management of more than
one authority, is entitled to select its supervise authority to follow administrative procedures.
1. Implement regulations on state management of food safety in Clause 1 Article 62 of the Law of Food
safety.
2. Submit periodic and ad hoc reports on management of food safety on be basis of supervisions and
reports from other Ministries and the People’s Committees of provinces.
3. Promulgate technical regulations on products under its management according to Article 62 of the
Law of Food safety and the products in Appendix II hereof; promulgate technical regulations or impose
safety limits on various groups of products at the request of other Ministries.
4. Perform food safety management throughout the production, processing, storage, transport, export,
import, sale of the products specified in Appendix II hereof.
5. Receive and manage applications, issue the certificate of registered product declaration, certificate of
food safety regarding dietary supplements and unregistered food additives; Certificate of GMP for
dietary supplements; Certificate of advertisement contents for dietary supplements;: Certificate of free
sale for products under its management, health certificate.
6. Appoint food testing laboratories and verifying laboratories under its management; appoint
laboratories that run tests serving of arbitration and giving final conclusions in case of discrepancies in
results given by various laboratories.
7. Appoint regulatory authorities responsible for food safety of products under its management.
1. Promulgate technical regulations on products under its management according to Article 63 of the
Law of Food safety and the products in Appendix III hereof.
2. Establish safety limits applied to the products in Appendix III hereof and send them to the Ministry
of Health for promulgation.
3. Monitor and assign food safety management tasks regarding the processes of farming, breeding,
collecting, fishing, salt production.
4. Perform food safety management and assign food safety management tasks throughout the processes
of production, collecting, preparation, processing, storage, transport, export, import, sale of the
products specified in Appendix III hereof.
5. Organize the issuance of the certificate of free sale for products under its management.
6. Organize the issuance of the certificate of food safety to manufacturers and sellers of the products
mentioned in Clause 3 and Clause 4 of this Article.
8. Appoint food testing laboratories and verifying laboratories; appoint laboratories responsible for
giving final conclusions in case of discrepancies in results given by various laboratories under its
management.
9. Appoint regulatory authorities responsible for food safety of products under its management.
10. Publish the list of eligible exporting countries and exporters under its management.
1. Promulgate technical regulations on products under its management according to Article 64 of the
Law of Food safety and the products in Appendix IV hereof.
2. Establish safety limits applied to the products in Appendix IV hereof and send them to the Ministry
of Health for promulgation.
3. Perform food safety management and assign food safety management tasks throughout the processes
of production, collecting, preparation, processing, storage, transport, export, import, sale of the
products specified in Appendix IV hereof.
4. Perform food safety management at supermarket, shopping malls, convenience stores, facilities of
the storage and distribution system, and other types of business.
5. Organize the issuance of certificate of free sale for products under its management.
6. Organize the issuance of the certificate of food safety to manufacturers and sellers of the products
under its management.
7. Carry out inspection to prevent counterfeit foods and trade fraud regarding every type of foods, food
additives, food processing aids, food containers and packages.
8. Appoint food testing laboratories and verifying laboratories; appoint laboratories responsible for
giving final conclusions in case of discrepancies in results given by various laboratories under its
management.
9. Appoint regulatory authorities responsible for food safety of products under its management.
1. Perform state management of food safety in their provinces and take responsibility to the
GOVERNMENT for food safety in their provinces. Presidents of the People’s Committees of provinces
shall hold the position of chief of the provincial food safety committee, which carry out inspection and
supervision of food safety in their provinces; inspect implementation of law on food safety by inferior
authorities; take actions against officials who fail to perform their food safety management duties;
organize settlement of complaints and denunciations; take actions against violations against regulations
of law on food safety; take responsibility to the Government for violations against food safety in their
provinces.
2. Organize implementation of regulations on food safety of the Government and Ministries in their
provinces.
5. Provide resources for specialized agencies to perform their food safety management tasks.
6. Take responsibility for food safety management in their provinces; inspect fulfillment of food safety
requirements by micro food manufacturers and sellers, street vendors, food and drink businesses and
markets.
8. Receive and manage applications; issue the certificate of registered product declaration and
certificate of advertisement contents for medical foods, food for special dietary uses, dietary products
for children up to 36 months.
1. Ministries, within the scope of their management, shall cooperate with the Ministry of Health in
performing state management tasks to ensure uniform and effective state management of food safety.
2. The Ministry of Health shall develop a food safety education program; the Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and other ministries shall cooperate with
the Ministry of Health in running the program.
3. The Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of
Industry and Trade shall plan and carry out inspections of products under their management in
cooperation with other ministries.
4. In case of food poisoning, the Ministry of Health is responsible for organizing emergency treatment.
Other Ministries shall provide adequate documents and information about the origin of the food
suspected of poisoning; cooperate with the Ministry of Health in investigating and tracing the origin
and disposal of the poisoning food.
5. Upon discovery of unconformable foods under management of other ministries, the Ministry of
Health shall take charge and cooperate with relevant Ministries in carrying out inspection and giving
conclusion.
Chapter XIII
IMPLEMENTATION
1. The certificates of declaration of conformity and certificates of declaration of conformity with food
safety regulations that are granted before the effective date of this Decree are still valid until the
expiration date of such certificates or the products.
2. Supervisory Ministries shall review and annul the regulations that contravene this Decree.
2. This Decree replaces the Government's Decree No. 38/2012/ND-CP dated April 25, 2012
elaborating some articles of the Law of Food safety; Chapter II of Circular No. 13/2014/TTLT-BYT-
BNNPTNT-BCT dated April 09, 2014 of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
ON BEHALF OF THE
GOVERNMENT
THE PRIME MINISTER
Nguyen Xuan Phuc
APPENDIX I
(Enclosed with the Government’s Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP dated February 02, 2018)
Form No. 01
SELF-DECLARATION FORM
Address: ..........................................................................................................................
Telephone: …………………………………………….. Fax: ...............................................
E-mail................................................................................................................................
Certificate of food safety No. ……………….. Date of issue/Place of issue: ……………. (for the
producer that must be issued with a certificate of food safety in accordance with regulations of law)
2. Ingredients: ...................................................................................................................
5. Name and address of the producer (in case of rent of the manufacturing
facility):...............................................................................................................................
III. Label design (attach the label design or proposed label design)
The food producer or seller satisfies food safety requirements according to:
- Circular of ministries; or
- National standard (in case national technical regulations, Circulars of ministries and local technical
regulations are not available); or
- Codex Alimentarius, regional standards, international standards (in case national technical
regulations, Circulars of Ministries, local technical regulations and national standards are not
available); or
- Standards attached by the manufacturers (in case national technical regulations, Circulars of
Ministries, local technical regulations, national standards, Codex Alimentarius, regional standards and
international standards are not available).
We are committed to comply with all regulations of the law on food safety and take full responsibility
for legality of the application for registration of the product declaration and quality and food safety of
the declared product./.
……………, date…. month…. year........
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PRODUCER
(Signature and seal)
Form No. 02
PRODUCT DECLARATION
No.……………….
Address: .............................................................................................................................
E-mail.................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
(for the producer that must be issued with a certificate of food safety in accordance with regulations of
law)
2. Ingredients: ....................................................................................................................
The food producer or seller satisfies food safety requirements according to:
- Circular of ministries; or
- National standard (in case national technical regulations, Circulars of ministries and local technical
regulations are not available); or
- Codex Alimentarius, regional standards, international standards (in case national technical
regulations, Circulars of Ministries, local technical regulations and national standards are not
available); or
- Standards attached by the manufacturers (in case national technical regulations, Circulars of
Ministries, local technical regulations, national standards, Codex Alimentarius, regional standards and
international standards are not available).
We are committed to comply with all regulations of the law on food safety and take full responsibility
for legality of the application for registration of the product declaration and quality and food safety of
the declared product, and only produce and sell the product when issued with the certificate of
registered product declaration./.
…………, date…. month…. year………
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PRODUCER
(Signature and seal)
Form No. 03
……… (name of the receiving authority) ……. confirms receipt of the product declaration of:
………………………. (name of the producer) address……………………………….. telephone,
……………………. Fax……………………….. Email …………………………… for the product:
……………………….manufactured by……………………….. (name, address where manufactured
and country of origin) according to the technical regulation/standard…(number, symbol and name)
……………………….The producer shall take full responsibility for the conformity of the declared
product./.
COMPETENT REPRESENTATIVE OF
THE ISSUING AUTHORITY
(Signature, seal)
Form No. 04
No. ..../20..../DKNK
2. Name, address and telephone of the trader responsible for goods quality: ....
.............................................................................................................................................
Inspection
Product group (According to Name and
Name of Method of method
No. QCVN or Codex or address of the
goods inspection confirmation
manufacturer’s standard) manufacturer
number*
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
* Inspection method confirmation means a notice given by a competent authority of the goods that has
been inspected using the said inspection method.
……………, date…. month…. year........ ……………, date…. month…. year........
Goods owner State inspecting authority
(Signature, seal) (Signature, seal)
Form No. 05
No. ……/20…../TBNK
2. Name, address and telephone of the trader responsible for goods quality: ....
.............................................................................................................................................
Form No. 06
Address: ............................................................................................................................
I. INSPECTED ITEMS:
A. General information:
Name and
Name of Name and Reasons for
address of Product Method of
No. shipment/ address of the unsatisfactory Notes
the goods group inspection
goods manufacturer results
owner
II. SUGGESTIONS:
Form No. 07
Form No. 08
1. Management system:
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
4. System for inspecting and monitoring residues and microorganisms, etc. of the producer/seller:
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
………, date….. month….. year……..
FOOD SAFETY AUTHORITY OF
THE EXPORTING COUNTRY
(Signature, seal)
Form No. 09
2. Address: ..........................................................................................................................
3. Product: .......................................................................................................................
………., date…. month…. year……
CONFIRMATION BY FOOD SAFETY
AUTHORITY OF THE EXPORTING
COUNTRY
(Signature, seal)
Form No. 10
To: 2 ………………………………………………….
2. Address:3 ..............................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................
Telephone: ………………………………….. Fax: ................................................................
I hereby declare that the information and documents provided herein is accurate and truthful and am
committed to advertise the product according to the certified contents.
I have the honor to request you to consider issuing the certificate of advertisement contents./.
Director or legal representative of the
applicant
Signature (full name, title)
Seal
_________________
1
Place
2
The receiving authorities: Competent authorities specified in Articles 37 and 40 of this Decree.
3
Specified in the business registration certificate
Form No. 11
Address: .............................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
It is certified that the advertisement content (enclosed) is conformable with applicable regulations.
Confirmed by
(Signature, full name and seal)
________________
1
Abbreviated name of the certifying authority
Form No. 12
To:………………….
Address: ................................................................................................................................
………., date……. month…… year 20....
OWNER
(signature, seal)
Form No. 13
INSPECTION RECORD
GMP FOR DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS
Location of inspection:………………..
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
GENERAL INFORMATION
2. Inspection:
- Inspection method: Document inspection and site inspection to assess the compliance with GMP rules
enclosed with the Decision No. ……/QD-BYT dated …../……/20……
- Scope of inspection: according to the application of (name of the manufacturer) dated ……/…../……
INSPECTION RESULT
I. Site inspection
4. Testing and control of quality of ingredients, semi-finished products, finished products and necessary
tests.
5. Documents: ..................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
III. Conclusion
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
The record is agreed upon by the parties and is made into 03 (three) copies. The inspected manufacturer
keeps 01 copy and the competent keeps 01 copy.
Inspectorate Representative of the manufacturer
(Signature, full name) (Signature, seal and full name)
1. Head:
2. Secretary:
3. Members:
Form No. 14
………., date……. month…… year ………
Representative of the issuing authority
(Signature, seal)
APPENDIX II
LIST OF PRODUCTS AND COMMODITIES UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OF THE MINISTRY
OF HEALTH
(Enclosed with the Government’s Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP dated February 02, 2018)
APPENDIX III
APPENDIX IV
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