What is functional food?
Concept and characteristics of functional foods
Functional foods are natural products or foods that have been supplemented with functional substances during processing. Functional foods have the effect of supporting treatment, recovery and supporting treatment of diseases. Or sometimes functional foods simply have the effect of making the body most comfortable, increasing resistance, reducing the risk of disease. Therefore, functional foods are also known as medicinal foods.
Functional foods are prepared according to a formula, have very small dosages and are clearly indicated for specific users. Users can use them regularly, ensuring safety, no toxicity or side effects.
Functional foods have the effect of restoring and supporting disease treatment.
Classification of functional foods
According to Vietnamese law, functional food supplements are divided into 3 main types as follows:
Health protection food : Food to supplement the daily diet with the purpose of improving, maintaining, and enhancing body functions.
Medical nutrition foods : Foods for medical purposes, which can be fed through a feeding tube or by mouth, to help regulate the patient's diet. This group of foods should be used under the supervision of medical staff.
Food for special diets :
Food is processed according to special formulas, meeting the specific diet according to each person's physical condition or medical condition.
According to Vietnamese law, functional food supplements are divided into 3 main types.
Reasons for declaring functional foods
Currently, functional foods are widely used in Vietnam and they directly affect the health of consumers, so our country's law requires these products to be granted a circulation declaration dossier by the Food Safety and Hygiene Department.
Protect consumer health
Announcing the quality of functional foods helps production and business establishments ensure quality according to established criteria, thereby helping to protect the health of consumers.
Branding
The functional food announcement is that these products have been tested for food safety and hygiene, confirmed by competent state agencies before being circulated on the market. Therefore, the functional products that have been announced will quickly gain the trust of users, the products will be quickly accepted. At that time, your brand will be known by many people, gradually gaining a foothold in the market.
Improve competitiveness
With products that have been announced quality standards by state agencies, you can be completely confident when competing with other unannounced products. Because consumers often care about quality first, functional foods that ensure quality will be the number 1 priority choice, and are used by everyone by word of mouth. From here, your products will quickly surpass your competitors, increasing sales.
Stabilize product quality
Once the quality standards of functional food products have been announced, whether imported or exported, individuals must ensure that the quality is in accordance with the standards submitted to the Food Safety Department. Stabilizing products is also a way for businesses to gain the trust of consumers.
Regulations on functional food declaration
When intending to announce functional foods, organizations and individuals need to clearly understand the State regulations to limit errors, affecting the announcement progress and business activities. The important regulations you must know are:
Subject of procedure
Organizations and individuals that produce, process or import functional products from abroad for consumption in the Vietnamese market.
Competent authority
According to Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP, the Department of Food Safety - Ministry of Health is the state agency that receives, evaluates and decides to announce functional foods.
How to apply
After fully preparing the required documents for publication, organizations and individuals send the documents by post or submit them directly to the Food Safety Department according to the one-stop regulations.
Prepare documents as required in the following legal documents:
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Food Safety Law No. 55/2010/QH12 dated June 17, 2010;
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Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety,
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Circular No. 19/2012/TT-BYT dated November 9, 2012 of the Ministry of Health Guiding the declaration of conformity and declaration of compliance with food safety regulations.
Number of documents : 02 sets of conformity declaration documents and 01 set of general legal documents
Actual processing time
According to information received from the Ministry of Health - Department of Food Safety, the time limit for processing the declaration of functional foods lasts for 7 working days. In case the provided documents are missing or incorrect, it will be extended.
Results of administrative procedure implementation
After reviewing and approving the functional food declaration dossier, the Ministry of Health will return the results in the form of a certificate of acceptance of the declaration of conformity or a certificate of confirmation of the declaration of compliance with food safety regulations.
Pay the fee
For food safety compliance declaration dossiers, the fee is 150,000 VND/product.
Components of the dossier in the declaration of functional foods
The dossier for registration of functional food quality standards includes the dossier for declaration of compliance with food safety regulations and general legal dossier. In which, the general legal dossier includes documents such as:
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Business registration certificate with food production and trading line or if the organization or individual imports food, a legal entity certificate is required;
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Certificate of food safety qualified facility;
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Certificate of conformity to HACCP or ISO 22000 standards or equivalent.
The dossier for declaring food supplements in compliance with food safety regulations includes declaring domestically produced and imported functional foods.
Regulations require functional food products to have a certificate of quality standards before being allowed to circulate on the market.
Imported functional food declaration file
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The declaration of compliance with food safety regulations is prepared according to Form No. 02 issued with Decree 15/2018/ND-CP;
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Detailed product information declaration form - Form No. 03b issued with Decree 15/2018/ND-CP (document with the seal of the organization or individual requesting the declaration);
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Certificate of free circulation/health certificate/equivalent certificate issued by the competent state agency of the country of manufacture. The content must show that the product is safe for the health of users and complies with food law regulations (The original or a legally notarized copy may be submitted);
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Functional product testing results within 12 months from the testing date. The required criteria include: indicators according to the requirements of the corresponding technical regulations, of the testing laboratory. Organizations and individuals can choose to submit the original or a notarized copy with the original for comparison or consular legalization.
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Periodic monitoring plan;
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Product labels circulated in the country of origin and sub-labels in Vietnamese;
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Complete product sample;
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Information and scientific documents proving the product's effectiveness or the effectiveness of each ingredient that makes up the functional food have been announced.
Purpose of declaring imported functional foods
Declaration of domestically produced food
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Declaration of compliance with food safety regulations (Form No. 02 issued with Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP);
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Product information sheet (Form No. 03a or Form No. 03c issued with Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP);
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Product testing results within 12 months from the testing date (submit original or notarized copy). Testing indicators include indicators required by relevant technical regulations, indicators required by designated testing laboratories/accredited testing laboratories/recognized independent testing laboratories;
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Product label sample;
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Complete product sample;
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Scientific documents proving the effects of functional foods or proving the effects of each ingredient that creates the function need to be published;
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Results of testing the effectiveness of products for new products that are first introduced to the Vietnamese market and have not been proven safe or effective (functional foods with new uses, or applied with new technology or processed from new ingredients);
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Quality control plan (Form No. 04 issued with Decree 38/2012/ND-CP);
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Periodic monitoring plan.
Illustration: Sample label of functional food
Conduct functional food declaration
To announce additional products that your business is manufacturing and trading, you need to follow the steps below:
Step 1 : Submit a complete application with legal documents as prescribed to the Department of Food Safety.
Step 2 : The Food Safety Department receives and checks the application. Upon receiving a complete and valid application, within 30 days the Ministry of Health must issue a Certificate of Acceptance of the Declaration of Compliance with Food Safety Regulations. If it is not issued within 30 days, the Ministry of Health must provide a written response explaining the reason for not issuing the license.
Step 3 : Return the Declaration Receipt to the organization or individual.
Functional food declaration service.
According to current State law, all functional food products, including imported and domestically produced products, must declare quality standards before being put on the market. However, preparing registration documents is extremely complicated, requiring a thorough understanding of the laws and regulations of the State, which not everyone is capable of. Therefore, to help organizations and individuals complete the declaration in the fastest and simplest way, HLA has launched the functional food declaration service .
Why choose HLA service?
HLA is a pioneer in the field of product declaration services, with many years of operation, reputation in the market, and is the number 1 priority choice of consumers nationwide. Here, customers will be consulted and supported by a team of leading lawyers and experts, with high professional knowledge, and many years of experience in preparing and submitting documents to state agencies.
All customer documents will be reviewed by us, specifically checked for legality, explained thoroughly, and together we will prepare a complete set of documents. In addition, during the appraisal process, if there is any problem, we will be responsible for thoroughly resolving it to quickly get results.
More specifically, when contacting HLA, customers will receive completely free advice on all issues related to legal procedures. We only charge a fee for functional foods that need to be declared according to the receipt of the testing room, without charging additional service fees. And before signing a contract between the two parties, we always provide clear terms and service fees, explaining thoroughly for customers to understand. So it can be said that choosing HLA's food supplement declaration service will enjoy the most reasonable and competitive fees.
Nowadays, functional food quality declaration services are springing up like mushrooms, so finding a reputable unit with reasonable prices is relatively difficult.
HLA's functional food declaration process
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Receive customer requests
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Legal procedure consulting
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Review and check customer provided documents
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Explain the legality of each type of document. Clearly state the correctness, excess or deficiency of the file and publicly disclose the service fee.
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Sign contracts with customers, draft, edit, and supplement functional food declaration documents
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On behalf of organizations and individuals, submit applications to the Food Safety Department and pay fees according to the provisions of law.
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Monitor the application review process and resolve any issues that arise.
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Receive results from the Ministry of Health and return results to customers.
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Service: Chief Accountant Services
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Steps:
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Assess the company's current financial and accounting situation.
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Outcome: Ensures regulatory compliance, improves cash flow, and increases financial transparency.
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