Procedures for Declaring the Quality, Safety and Hygiene of Domestically Produced Food

According to the law, when trading domestically produced products/foods such as: fresh foods, processed foods, functional foods, etc… producers and traders must carry out product declaration procedures to ensure its safety and hygiene.

Product announcement is the announcement of a product/food in accordance with technical regulations and legal regulations.

Register for product announcement:

Organizations and individuals producing and trading food must register product declarations for the following products:
Health Supplement foods, medical nutritional foods, foods for special diets.
Nutritional products for children under 36 months old.
Mixed food additives with new uses, food additives that are not on the list of additives allowed to be used in food/ are not intended for use as prescribed by the Ministry of Health.

Self-declaration of products:

Organizations and individuals producing and trading food will self-declare if these products are in the following list: Pre-packaged processed foods, food additives, food processing aids, food containers products and packaging materials in direct contact with food (except for products that must be registered).

Implementation profile:

Dossier for registration of product announcement:
- Product announcement according to Form No. 02;
- Original/copy:
  - Food safety testing result slip (within 12 months from the date of application) issued by the designated testing laboratory adapting the safety criteria of the Ministry of Health.
  - Scientific evidence proving the use of the product/ingredient that creates the announced use (confirmed by the organization or individual.) When using evidence to make use of the product, the dosage used daily product must be at least greater than or equal to 15% of the usage amount of that ingredient stated in the document;
- Certified copy with confirmation from organization or individual:
  - Certificate of establishment meeting food safety conditions (in case the establishment is subject to a certificate according to regulations);
  - Certificate of establishment which is eligible the food safety conditions of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) (in case the product is a health protection food, applicable from July 1, 2019).
For self-declared documents:
- Product self-declaration according to Form No. 01
- Original/copy: Food safety testing result slip (within 12 months from the date of application) issued by the designated testing laboratory/testing laboratory in accordance with the safety criteria set by the Ministry. Health promulgates/safety norms according to corresponding regulations and standards announced by organizations and individuals in cases where there are no regulations from the Ministry of Health;

Implementation procedures:

Procedures for registration of publication:
- Organizations and individuals producing and trading food submit application for product declaration registration via the online public service system/by post/directly to the agencies receiving the application:
  - Submitted to the Ministry of Health: For health protection foods, mixed food additives with new uses, food additives not yet on the list of additives allowed to be used in food issued by the Minister of Health. international regulations
  - Submit to the competent authority designated by the Provincial People’s Committee: for medical nutritional foods, foods for special diets, nutritional products for children up to 36 months old;
- In case of producing many types of foods under the authority of receiving product declaration registration applications from both above agencies: Organizations and individuals have the right to choose to submit applications to the Ministry of Health/products under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health. Whichever agency has the authority to receive the application, then submit the registration application to that receiving agency.
- Within 07 working days from receipt of complete dossier (21 days for health protection foods), the receiving agency will evaluate the dossier and issue a Certificate of Receipt of product declaration registration. In case of disagreement with the product announcement dossier/request for amendments and supplements, the receiving agency will issue a written notice clearly stating the reason and legal basis of the request.
- The agency receiving the declaration registration application will publicize the names and products of the organization or individual that has received the product declaration registration on its website and food safety database.
Self-declaration procedures:
- Organizations and individuals self-declaring products submit 01 copy of the declaration by mail/directly to the competent authority designated by the Provincial People’s Committee and publish on the following channels:
  - Mass media
  - Your electronic information page
  - Publicly posted at the headquarters of organizations and individuals

Some note:

For imported products, the importer also needs to register for product announcement according to regulations. Besides they must also carry out state inspection procedures on food safety when importing.
Documents in the registration dossier must be presented in Vietnamese
In case the product has a change in product name, origin, or composition, the organization or individual must self-announce/re-announce the product. If there are other changes, written notification of the changed content must be notified to the dossier-receiving agency according to regulations.

An Luat Vietnam specializes in providing product/food declaration registration services, consulting on documents, and procedures for self-declaration of products according to regulations. We could help customers prepare all necessary documents to complete these procedures in a quick and reasonable time.