Circular No. 43/2018/TT-BCT dated November 15, 2018 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on providing food safety management under the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Trade

CIRCULAR

Providing food safety management under the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Trade^[1] 

Pursuant to the June 17, 2010 Law on Food Safety;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 98/2017/ND-CP of August 18, 2017, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

Pursuant the Government’s Decree No. 77/2016/ND-CP of July 1, 2016, amending and supplementing a number of regulations on conditions for business investment in the fields of international goods purchase and sale; chemicals, industrial explosives, fertilizers, gas trading, and food trading within the scope of state management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 107/2016/ND-CP of July 1, 2016, on conditions for provision of conformity assessment services;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 08/2018/ND-CP of January 15, 2018, amending a number of Decrees concerning business investment conditions under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

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;

At the proposal of the Director of the Science and Technology Department;

The Minister of Industry and Trade promulgates the Decree providing food safety management under the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Circular provides:

1. The grant and revocation of certificates of satisfaction of food safety conditions for food production and/or trading establishments.

2. Agencies performing the state inspection of food safety of imported food.

3. Designation of laboratories performing food testing for state management purposes; reference testing laboratories.

4. Recall of unsafe food and disposition of recalled unsafe food.

Article 2. Subjects of application

This Circular applies to Vietnamese agencies, organizations and individuals and foreign organizations and individuals engaged in production, trading and import of food in Vietnam; state management agencies; and organizations and individuals engaged in activities related to food safety in Vietnam under the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s responsibility for performing the state management of food safety.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Circular, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. General food trading establishment means an establishment that trades in  assorted types of food which fall under the management of 2 or more specialized management agencies (except wholesale markets and agricultural product auction centers).

2. Establishment owner means the at-law representative of an establishment (according to the investment certificate/enterprise registration certificate) or a person who is hired or assigned to personally administer food production or trading activities at the establishment.

3. Laboratory performing food testing for state management purposes means an institution which has the legal person status and is designated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to perform one or more than one activity of testing and assessing the conformity with relevant technical regulations or standards of food, food additives, food processing aids, food-fortifying agents, and food containers and packaging.

4. Reference testing laboratory means a state-run laboratory which is designated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to perform food testing upon occurrence of disputes over testing results and in service of the settlement of food safety-related disputes.