Some information about food quality declaration regulations of the Vietnamese government.
What is food declaration? Is it mandatory?
Food declaration is a necessary task for organizations and enterprises so that imported or domestically produced food products are allowed to circulate on the national market. In other words, food declaration is to declare the quality standards of food products to state agencies to obtain a circulation license.
According to Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP, all food production and trading enterprises registered to do business in Vietnam or representing foreign companies circulating food on the Vietnamese market are required to declare quality standards before putting their products on the market. Food production and import-export enterprises that have not declared quality standards will be fined and held responsible according to the provisions of the law.
Reasons for food declaration.
Food quality declaration not only helps authorities easily manage food hygiene and safety, ensuring consumer health, but also brings many benefits to business operations.
Build reputation and brand
For a business, building reputation and brand is extremely important, affecting the success or failure of the business. Declaring food to government agencies is the business's way of affirming to consumers that its food has met the quality standards prescribed by the state. Then the products will be more easily accessible to customers, creating trust, high reputation and gradually affirming the brand, quickly gaining a solid position in the market.
Create competitive advantage
According to the general psychology of consumers, products with published quality standards will certainly be favored over products that have not been published. Because food products directly affect the health of users. Therefore, if you sell published food, you will have a competitive advantage, quickly gaining a large number of customers to overcome competitors.
Contribute to improving business efficiency
Once you have a brand, gain the attention and trust of customers, you will certainly have a large number of customers and sales will increase day by day. In addition, when announcing food , the quality of the business's food will be stable and improved day by day, while there will be a plan to optimize costs in production. Sales increase, costs are optimized, then revenue will certainly increase a lot, bringing the desired results.
Some provisions in the food declaration law.
Subjects required to make food declaration
Products need to be registered for food declaration.
Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP issued by the Government clearly states that food groups that need to be registered for product quality standards with state authorities before being put on the market include:
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Health food
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Foods on the special diet list
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Medical nutrition food
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Nutritional products for children under 36 months old
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Mixed food additives with new uses or additives not on the list of additives permitted for use in food or not for the intended purpose as prescribed by the Ministry of Health.
Legal basis for food declaration registration procedures.
When preparing documents and procedures for food declaration , organizations and individuals need to base on the following types of documents:
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Food Safety Law No. 55/2010/QH12
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Circular No. 19/2012/TT-BYT Guiding the declaration of conformity and declaration of compliance with food safety regulations
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Decree No. 38/2012/ND-CP Detailing a number of food safety laws
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Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety
Food is allowed to self-declare.
In addition to the food groups that are required to declare quality standards as mentioned above, some food groups will be allowed to self-declare , meaning that businesses are free to declare to competent authorities without being required by the state. Specifically:
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Prepackaged processed foods, food additives, food processing aids
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Containers and packaging materials in direct contact with food
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Products and raw materials in production, import and export for internal production without external consumption or for processing export goods. Food products in this group are also exempted from self-declaration procedures.
Register for declaration of compliance with food safety regulations
Detailed instructions for food declaration.
Food declaration with State authorities is a relatively complicated process, involving many legal procedures and documents. Therefore, organizations and individuals who want to simplify everything and shorten the time for food safety declaration cannot ignore the detailed instructions below.
Food declaration procedure.
The food quality declaration process includes the following stages:
Submit application . Submit application for product declaration registration by post or via online public service system or directly to the agency receiving the application.
Appraisal of dossier . Within 7 to 21 days (depending on the food product to be declared) from the date of receipt of the dossier, the competent authority is responsible for appraising and issuing a certificate of acceptance of food declaration registration according to form 03 Appendix I issued with Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP.
Supplement and amend the dossier . If the dossier is not approved and needs to be amended or supplemented, the agency shall issue a written document stating the reasons for the request. After 90 days from the date of the official dispatch requesting amendments or supplements, if the enterprise fails to meet the requirements, the dossier will no longer be valid.
Food quality declaration . When the dossier meets the requirements, the competent authority is responsible for publicizing the product quality on its website and the food safety database.
Complete the procedure . The enterprise pays the application appraisal fee according to the regulations on fees and charges of current law.
Types of documents required in food declaration dossier.
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Food safety conformity declaration or food safety declaration certificate ( Form No. 02 Appendix I issued with Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP)
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Product details
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Periodic monitoring plan
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Product samples circulated in the country of origin
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Product sub-label content
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Complete product samples for products imported to Vietnam for the first time
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Business license. To obtain a license, if you are an importer from abroad, you must have a food business line: beverages, milk and dairy products, functional foods. If you are a manufacturing company, you must have a food manufacturing and trading line with specific product details that will be announced as planned.
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Certificate of food safety eligibility for production and business establishments. Many businesses are confused about the specialized agency that has the authority to issue this type of license, so they need to pay close attention and research carefully when applying for a license so as not to waste too much time and effort. For example, if it is a confectionery production facility, the certificate is issued by the Department of Industry and Trade. If it is a meat production facility, it is the Department of Agriculture, and if it is a functional food production facility, it is the Department of Food Safety under the Ministry of Health.
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Documents provided by foreign parties – must be included in the imported food declaration file . There are three types of documents: a certificate of free circulation issued by the state to the manufacturer based in that country or issued by the country with the processing unit if the product is ordered to be processed in another country. The second type is a certificate of analysis of the composition of the food product issued by an independent testing laboratory with ISO 17025 certification, which includes all the criteria according to current State regulations. And the third type is HACCP or ISO 22000 – recommended documents that are not required.
Product declaration receipt form
Where to submit food declaration documents?
For imported food, tools, packaging materials, and food containers: submit to the Ministry of Health - Department of Food Safety.
Domestically produced food, utensils, and packaging materials containing food: submit to the Department of Health - Food Safety and Hygiene Department
Time to make food declaration.
After the application is received and assessed by the competent authority, if it is valid, the results will be returned after 40 to 45 days from the date the application is assessed. The results are returned on the online system, there is no hard copy. Enterprises can download it to use for food products in circulation.
What to keep in mind when declaring food.
To make the food product quality declaration process go quickly, without having to correct, supplement or return documents, you need to pay attention to the following issues:
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All documents in the file must be valid and presented in Vietnamese. All expired documents will be returned and not processed under any circumstances. If there are documents in a foreign language, they must be translated into Vietnamese and notarized.
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If it is necessary to change the name, origin, or ingredients of a food that has been declared, it must be re-declared.
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For imported food, businesses need to keep the invoice or packing list when importing sample goods.
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In Article 8, Chapter 2 of Decree No. 38/2012/ND-CP detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety, it is clearly stated that the validity of the declaration is 5 years for products of establishments with certificates of advanced quality management systems. For example, HACCP, ISO22000 or equivalent certificates. For establishments without the above certificates, the validity is 3 years. After the validity period expires, if the product continues to be circulated, it will be necessary to re-declare.
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If you are not familiar with the law, you should seek the support of a reputable product quality declaration service provider.
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HLA's food declaration service.
The procedure for making a product quality declaration requires a lot of legal documents, so this issue always causes headaches for businesses. Because not everyone is knowledgeable about the law and understands the necessary procedures and documents when preparing the dossier. That is why the service of supporting organizations and individuals to declare food quality standards was established. And one of the most chosen legal procedure consulting and support units is HLA.
Why should you choose HLA's food declaration service?
HLA is a unit with many years of experience in the field of product quality declaration. With a team of dedicated, attentive, highly qualified and experienced staff, customers will quickly own a food product circulation license in the shortest time.
HLA's food declaration services include:
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Consulting on issues related to declaration procedures, including legal regulations and implementation.
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Detailed assessment of the legality of documents provided by customers
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Provide forms and instructions for completing the application
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Free food product testing, payment fee according to state fee receipt
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Prepare documents, submit documents to state agencies, monitor and receive results
In addition, customers coming to HLA will also have their products periodically tested and will be consulted on all legal issues related to food declaration documents completely free of charge.
Food safety declaration process at HLA.
To help customers better understand HLA's food declaration service, we would like to provide the detailed implementation process from receiving the request to completion below.
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Receive customer requests
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Advise on all legal issues and aspects related to the client's product announcement
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Review documents, advise on the legality and validity of each document provided by the customer
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Correctly amend and supplement documents
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Develop food testing criteria that need to be announced, send samples for testing and receive results
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Complete the application, the business representative submits the application and pays the fee to the competent state agency.
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Monitor the application review process and resolve any issues that arise.
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Receive results from the food declaration authority and return them to the customer.
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Assess the company's current financial and accounting situation.
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