Remove food safety problems for businesses

On February 28, Vietnam Food Administration held a conference to disseminate Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP stipulating a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety. This Decree replaces Decree No.38/2012 which is no longer appropriate. The conference was attended by 27 Food Safety Departments of Northern provinces.

Decree No.15 has changed 11 main contents, in which regulations on the product self-announcement procedures are the biggest changes compared to the previous. Compared to the old regulation, up to 75% of packaged products on the market will be self-announced.

Decree No.15 diverted strongly from pre-check to post-check (self-declaration of conformity, in accordance with food safety regulations, food safety inspection, etc.)

Specifically, the Decree No.38 change the method of announcing typical and standards for food products. Previously, Decree No.38/2012/ND-CP stipulates that processed and pre-packaged food, food additives, support substances for food-processing, must be announced in conformity with the typical or regulation on food safety and register the conformity announcement with a competent state agency to be certified before launching on the market.

Currently, Decree 15 stipulates that processed and processed food, food additives, support substances for food processing, food containers, food packaging materials must be published before introducing in the market. In particular, production and business organizations and individuals shall make their own announcements and send self-proclaimed copies by post or directly to competent state management agencies designated by People’s Committees of provinces and municipalities.

Along with that, Decree No.15 stipulates new points which are expanding the objects not eligible for food safety certification; changes in food safety control for imported food, streamlining management of food advertising; supplementing provisions on responsibilities of food production and trading organizations and individuals in storing information and carrying out the traceability of foodstuffs which do not guarantee food safety, etc.

For imported food inspection methods, only a maximum of 5% of the total number of imported shipments will be checked within 1 year by random selection of customs authorities. These shipments have previously been certified to meet the requirements of the country which has signed the International Treaties which Vietnam is a member or has had 3 consecutive times in 12 months to meet the import or production requirements according to GMP, HACCP, ISO 22000, etc.

Also according to this Decree No.15, it is only required for tight inspection of shipments that did not meet the requirement at the previous inspection or during inspections (if any) or warnings from management agencies.

In addition, Decree No.15 also regulates the regulations on registration procedures for publication of genetically modified food, certification of food safety establishments, food labeling and food advertising, etc.

According to estimates, the implementation of Decree 15 will reduce administrative costs by more than 90%, saving 10 million public days and VND 3,700 billion per year for businesses. However, above all, the Decree has shown the change of management thinking, from pre-check to post-check, stronger decentralization and enhancement of corporate responsibility up to 100% for its products to ensure food safety for consumers.

Productivity and Quality Office