Circular No. 23/2018/TT-BYT dated September 14, 2018 of the Ministry of Health on prescribing the recall and disposal of unsafe foods under the management of the Ministry of Health

CIRCULAR

Prescribing the recall and disposal of unsafe foods under the management of the Ministry of Health

Pursuant to June 17, 2010 Law No. 55/2010/QH12 on Food Safety;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 75/2017/ND-CP of June 20, 2017, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Health;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department for Food Safety,

The Minister of Health promulgates the Circular prescribing the recall and disposal of unsafe foods under the management of the Ministry of Health.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.Scope of regulation

This Circular prescribes in detail forms and order of, and responsibility for, recall and post-recall disposal of unsafe foods, food additives, food processing aids, food-packaging tools and food packages and containers (below referred to as products) under the management of the Ministry of Health.

Article 2. Subjects of application

This Circular applies to Vietnamese organizations and individuals, and foreign organizations and individuals in Vietnam engaged in production and trading of products specified in Article 1 of this Circular, competent agencies in charge of food safety, and other organizations and individuals involved in food safety-related activities in Vietnam.

Chapter II

FORMS AND ORDER OF RECALL

Article 3.Forms of recall

1. Voluntary recall means the recall of products willingly carried out by organizations and individuals that register for the product declaration or product self-declaration (below referred to as product owners) when detecting by themselves or receiving information about unsafe products they produce or trade, which do not fall into the cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. Compulsory recall means the recall of unsafe products by product owners under decisions of the following competent state agencies:

a/ Agencies receiving product self-declaration dossiers or issuing receipts of the registration of the product declaration as prescribed in Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP of February 2, 2018, detailing a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety (below referred to as competent agencies in charge of food safety);

b/ Agencies competent to sanction food safety-related administrative violations under regulations.

Article 4. Order of voluntary recall

1. Within24 hours after detecting or receiving information about unsafe products, if finding such products subject to recall, a product owner shall:

a/ Notify by telephone, email or other appropriate notification forms, and then notify in writing to his/her/its production and trading system (including production establishments, distribution channels, agents and stores) of intended suspension of production and trading and recall of the product.

b/ Notify in writing to provincial-level mass media and other related agencies and organizations in accordance with the law on protection of consumer rights; notify in writing to central mass media for provision of information to consumers about the to-be-recalled products if the product recall is to be carried out in 2 or more provinces.

c/ Notify in writing the competent agencies in charge of food safety of the product recall;

d/ When notifying in writing the product recall, a product owner shall clearly state the names and addresses of the product owner and producer, name, packaging specifications, production lot number, date of production and expiry date, and quantity of the product, recall reason, list of places for gathering and receipt of the to-be-recalled product, and time of product recall.

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