Circular No. 34/2018/TT-BNNPTNT dated November 16, 2018 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Circular No. 33/2014/TT-BNNPTNT of October 30, 2014, and Circular No. 20/2017/TT-BNNPTNT of November 10, 2017

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Circular No. 33/2014/TT-BNNPTNT of October 30, 2014, and Circular No. 20/2017/TT-BNNPTNT of
November 10, 2017^[1]

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 15/2017/ND-CP of February 17, 2017, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

Pursuant to the November 21, 2017 Law on Fisheries;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP of February 2, 2018, detailing a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 39/2017/ND-CP of April 4, 2017, on management of animal and aquatic feeds;

At the proposal of the Director of the Plant Protection Department, Director General of the Directorate of Fisheries, and Director of the Department of Livestock Production;

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development promulgates the Circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Circular No. 33/2014/TT-BNNPTNT of October 30, 2014, and Circular No. 20/2017/TT-BNNPTNT of November 10, 2017.

Article 1.To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Circular No. 33/2014/TT-BNNPTNT of October 30, 2014, prescribing the order and procedures for quarantine of plants upon import, export and transit and post-import quarantine of articles subject to plant quarantine

1. To amend and supplement Article 1 as follows:

“Article 1.Scope of regulation

This Circular:

1. Prescribes the order and procedures for grant of quarantine certificates for plants upon import, export and transit, for articles subject to plant quarantine; and post-import quarantine of plants.

2. Guides plant quarantine and food safety inspection for goods of plant origin, for imported goods batches (lots of articles) subject to both plant quarantine and state inspection of safety of imported food (state inspection of imported food).

3. Guides pre-customs clearance plant quarantine and state inspection of quality of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin, for goods batches (lots of articles) subject to both plant quarantine and state inspection of quality.”

2. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 7 as follows:

“1. Registration for plant quarantine

Article owners shall submit at a plant quarantine agency, or send by post or online via the National Single-Window Mechanism, 1 set of dossier of registration for quarantine of imported plants.”

3. To add the following Articles 7a and 7b:

“Article 7a. Dossier, order and procedures for plant quarantine and food safety inspection of imported goods of plant origin subject to both plant quarantine and state inspection of food safety

1. A dossier of registration for plant quarantine and food safety inspection for imported goods of plant origin must comply with Clauses 2 and 3, Article 6 of this Circular, and Clause 2, Article 18 of the Government’s 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 Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP).

A written registration for plant quarantine and food safety inspection for imported goods of plant origin shall be made according to the form in Appendix Ia to this Circular.

2. The order and procedures for plant quarantine and food safety inspection for imported goods of plant origin must comply with Article 7 of this Circular, and Article 19 of Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP.

3. A certificate of plant quarantine and food safety inspection for imported goods of plant origin shall be made according to the form in Appendix IIa to this Circular and granted for goods batches which are not infected with Vietnam’s plant quarantine objects or objects subject to control or harmful exotic organisms, and satisfy requirements on safety of imported food.

Article 7b. Dossier, order and procedures for plant quarantine and state inspection of quality for batches of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin subject to both plant quarantine and state inspection of quality

1. A dossier of registration for plant quarantine and state inspection of quality of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin must comply with Clauses 2 and 3, Article 6 of this Circular, and regulations on animal and aquatic feeds.

A written registration for plant quarantine and inspection and certification of the quality of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin shall be made according to the form in Appendix Ib to this Circular.

2. The order and procedures for plant quarantine and state inspection of quality of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin must comply with Article 7 of this Circular, and regulations on animal and aquatic feeds.

Goods owners (article owners) shall submit at a plant quarantine agency, or send by post or online via the National Single-Window Mechanism, 1 set of dossier of registration for plant quarantine and inspection and certification of the quality of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin.”

4. To add the following Articles 18a and 18b:

“Article 18a. Competence to conduct state inspection of the quality of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin

1. The Plant Protection Department shall organize the state inspection, and receive and process administrative procedures related to the quality inspection, of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin subject to pre-customs clearance plant quarantine under the regulations on product and goods quality and animal and aquatic feeds.

2. The Plant Protection Department shall organize the state inspection of the quality of imported mixed animal and aquatic feeds of both plant and animal origins when so requested by the owners of such feeds. When necessary, the Plant Protection Department shall notify such to the Department of Animal Health for coordinated inspection.

Article 18b. Responsibilities of units in charge of state inspection of the quality of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin subject to plant quarantine

1. The Plant Protection Department shall provide, on a monthly basis or upon request, data on the results of state inspection of the quality of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin subject to both plant quarantine and state inspection of quality to the Directorate of Fisheries and Department of Livestock Production.

2. The Directorate of Fisheries and Department of Livestock Production shall promptly notify the Plant Protection Department violations of the regulations on quality of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin subject to both plant quarantine and state inspection of quality which are detected when the feeds are sold in the market”.

Article 2.To amend and supplement the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Circular No. 20/2017/TT-BNNPTNT of November 10, 2017, guiding the implementation of the Government’s Decree No. 39/2017/ND-CP of April 4, 2017, on management of animal and aquatic feeds

1. To add the following Clauses 2a and 3a to Article 9:

“2a. For imported animal feeds subject to administrative procedures for both plant quarantine and state inspection of their quality:

If the results of quality inspection are unsatisfactory, the designated inspection organization shall report on such results to the Plant Protection Department and concurrently send by post, fax or email a written notice of such results to the establishment having its animal feeds inspected.

Within 7 working days after receiving the notice, if the establishment has no complaint about the inspection results, the Plant Protection Department shall handle violations in accordance with law.

3a. Settlement of complaints about inspection results for imported animal feeds subject to administrative procedures for both plant quarantine and state inspection of their quality:

If disagreeing with the quality inspection results, the establishment having its animal feeds inspected may send a written request to the Plant Protection Department for quality re-inspection and re-analysis.

The Plant Protection Department shall re-test the feed samples it stores or take other samples (when necessary), and send them to another designated testing laboratory for inspection. The re-testing results serve as a basis for handling violations and making final conclusions.

If a complaint about the inspection results is lodged while there is only 1 designated testing laboratory, the Plant Protection Department may send the feed samples to a foreign testing laboratory accredited by an international recognition organization or a regional recognition organization or designated or accredited by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.”

2. To add the following Clause 4 to Article 11:

“4. The Plant Protection Department shall organize the state inspection and receive and process administrative procedures related to the quality inspection of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin, which are subject to pre-customs clearance plant quarantine prescribed in the Government’s Decree No. 39/2017/ND-CP of April 4, 2017, on management of animal and aquatic feeds.”

Article 3.Effect

1. This Circular takes effect on January 1, 2019.

2. To annul Article 1 of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Circular No. 30/2017/TT-BNNPTNT of December 29, 2017, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Circular No. 33/2014/TT-BNNPTNT of October 30, 2014, prescribing the order and procedures for quarantine of plants upon import, export and transit and post-import quarantine of articles subject to plant quarantine, and amending Clause 3, Article 2 of Circular No. 18/2016/TT-BNNPTNT of June 24, 2016, on strategic environmental assessment and environmental impact assessment under the management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Article 4.Transitional provisions

1. Pending the completion of a software for carrying out procedures for both plant quarantine and quality inspection of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin via the National Single-Window Mechanism, the Directorate of Fisheries and Department of Livestock Production may continue carrying out administrative procedures related to the state inspection of quality of animal and aquatic feeds via the National Single-Window Mechanism within 6 months after the effective date of this Circular.

2. For feeds eligible for the regime of inspection exemption or reduced inspection for a given period under approval documents issued by the Directorate of Fisheries or Department of Livestock Production before the date of conducting both plant quarantine and quality inspection of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin via the National Single-Window Mechanism, such regime may be applied until the expiration of these documents.

3. Dossiers of registration for quality inspection and dossiers of request for inspection exemption or reduced exemption for a given period for imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin subject to plant quarantine, which are submitted to the Directorate of Fisheries or Department of Livestock Production before the date of carrying out procedures for both plant quarantine and quality inspection of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin via the National Single-Window Mechanism shall be processed by the Directorate of Fisheries or Department of Livestock Production in accordance with law.

4. Pending the issuance of national technical regulations on animal and aquatic feeds, the declared applicable standards will serve as bases for quality inspection of imported animal and aquatic feeds of plant origin.

The Directorate of Fisheries and Department of Livestock Production shall formulate and submit national technical regulations on animal and aquatic feeds for promulgation in accordance with law, which shall be set to take effect on January 1, 2020.

Article 5. Organization of implementation

1. The Director of the Plant Protection Department, Director General of the Directorate of Fisheries, Director of the Department of Livestock Production, heads of related units, and related organizations and individuals shall implement this Circular.

2. Any problems arising in the course of implementation of this Circular should be reported to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for consideration, amendment and supplementation.-

For the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
Deputy Minister
LE QUOC DOANH