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 establishmentmeans 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 ownermeans 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 purposesmeans 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 laboratorymeans 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.

5.Agency performing the state inspection of food safety of imported foodmeans an agency or unit possessing sufficient conditions and technical qualifications to consider, assess and certify products’ conformity with relevant regulations, standards or technical regulations on food safety under the assignment or designation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

6.Product recallmeans the application of measures to withdraw products failing to meet food safety requirements from the chain of production, import, export and circulation.

7.Food trading establishment chainmeans a chain of business establishments which belong to a single owner and are located in 2 or more provinces or centrally run cities.

Chapter II

GRANT AND REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATES OF SATISFACTION OF FOOD SAFETY CONDITIONS

Article 4.Dossiers of application for certificates

1. For cases of first-time application for a certificate

a/ An application made according to Form No. 01a provided in the Appendix to this Circular;

b/ An overview of physical foundations, equipment and devices proving the satisfaction of food safety and hygiene conditions, made according to Form No. 02a or Form No. 02b provided in the Appendix to this Circular (for production establishments or trading establishments, respectively) or a form with all items prescribed in Form No. 02a and Form No. 02b (for establishments engaged in both production and trading activities);

c/ Certificates of good health/a list composing certificates of good health of the establishment owner and persons directly engaged in food production and/or trading activities, which are issued by medical establishments of district or higher level (copies bearing the establishment’s certification);

d/ Certificates of training in food safety knowledge/certificates of food safety knowledge of the establishment owner and persons directly engaged in food production and/or trading activities, which are issued by medical establishments of district or higher level (copies bearing the establishment’s certification).

2. For cases of requesting re-grant of a certificate in case the old certificate is lost or damaged

A request made according to Form No. 01b provided in the Appendix to this Circular.

3. For cases of requesting re-grant of a certificate in case an establishment changes its production or business location; changes or adds its production process or trading items and in case the certificate expires

a/ A request for re-grant, made according to Form No. 01b provided in the Appendix to this Circular;

b/ The papers specified at Points b, c and d, Clause 1 of this Article.

4. For cases of requesting re-grant of a certificate in case an establishment is renamed while its owner, address, location, production processes and trading items are kept intact

a/ A request for re-grant, made according to Form No. 01b provided in the Appendix to this Circular;

b/ The old certificate of satisfaction of food safety conditions (a copy bearing the establishment’s certification).

5. For cases of requesting re-grant of a certificate in case an establishment has a new owner while its address, location, production processes and trading items are kept intact

a/  A request for re-grant, made according to Form No. 01b provided in the Appendix to this Circular;

b/ The old certificate of satisfaction of food safety conditions (a copy bearing the establishment’s certification);

c/ The establishment owner’s certificate of good health, issued by a medical establishment of district or higher level (copy bearing the establishment’s certification);

d/ The establishment owner’s certificate of training in food safety knowledge/certificate of food safety knowledge (a copy bearing the establishment’s certification).

Article 5.Order and procedures for grant of certificates

The competent agencies defined in Article 6 of this Circular shall receive and examine the validity of dossiers, conduct physical inspection at establishments and grant certificates of satisfaction of food safety conditions. The order and procedures for grant of a certificate are as follows:

1. For cases of first-time grant

a/ Receiving and examining the validity of a dossier

Within 5 working days after a competent agency receives a dossier, it shall examine the dossier’s validity; in case the dossier is invalid, the competent agency shall issue a notice requesting the concerned establishment to supplement the dossier. Past 30 days from the date of issuance of the notice of request for dossier supplement, if the establishment fails to reply, the dossier is no longer valid.

b/ Forming a team to conduct physical inspection at the establishment

Within 10 working days after the dossier examination result is released showing that the dossier is complete and valid, the competent agency shall organize physical inspection at the establishment. In case a superior-level competent agency authorizes a subordinate-level competent agency to conduct physical inspection at the establishment, such authorization shall be made in writing. After conducting the inspection, the subordinate-level competent agency shall send the record of inspection to the superior-level competent agency for use as a basis for grant of a certificate.

Physical inspection teams shall be formed under decisions of agencies competent to grant certificates or agencies authorized to conduct the inspection. An inspection team must have between 3 and 5 members, of whom at least 2 persons are specialized in food or food safety (possessing a diploma on food or food safety) or food safety management (the inspection team may invite independent experts who are specialized in relevant majors to join the team). Heads of inspection teams shall take responsibility for results of physical inspection at establishments.

c/ Contents of physical inspection at the establishment

To inspect the validity of the dossier of registration for grant of a certificate submitted to the competent agency against the original one archived at the establishment. To inspect food safety conditions at the establishment under regulations.

c/ Result of physical inspection at the establishment

The inspection result, which is “Satisfactory” or “Unsatisfactory” or “Pending completion”, shall be written down in the record of inspection of food safety conditions, made according to Form No. 03a or Form No. 03b provided in the Appendix to this Circular (for food production establishments or food trading establishments, respectively) or a form with all items prescribed in Form No. 03a and Form No. 03b (for establishments engaged in both food production and trading activities);

A general food trading establishment shall be granted a certificate when the business conditions for at least 1 group of products are evaluated as “Satisfactory”. The names of groups of products satisfying prescribed requirements shall be written down in the certificate of satisfaction of food safety conditions.

In case the inspection result is “Unsatisfactory” or “Pending completion”, the reason shall be stated in the record of inspection. For cases of “Pending completion”, the time limit for implementing remedial measures is 60 days. After implementing remedial measures as requested by the inspection team, the establishment shall submit a report on the result of implementation of remedial measures, made according to Form No. 04 provided in the Appendix to this Circular, and pay an inspection charge to the competent agency for the latter to organize the re-inspection under Point c of this Clause. The time limit for re-inspection is 10 working days after the competent agency receives the report on the result of implementation of remedial measures. Past 60 days, if the establishment still fails to submit such report, its dossier of application for a certificate of satisfaction of food safety conditions and the inspection result of “Pending completion” is no longer valid.

If the re-inspection result is “Unsatisfactory” or the establishment fails to submit a report on the result of implementation of remedial measures though the time limit for implementation of remedial measures has expired, the competent agency shall notify such in writing to local management agencies for the latter to supervise and request the establishment to halt operation until it is granted a certificate;

The record of physical inspection at the establishment shall be made in 2 copies of equal validity. The inspection team and establishment each shall keep 1 copy.

dd/ Grant of a certificate

Within 5 working days after the physical inspection at the establishment is completed with the result of “Satisfactory”, the competent agency shall grant a certificate, made according to Form No. 05a, 05b, or 05c provided in this Circular, for food production establishments, food trading establishments, or establishments engaged in both food production and trading activities, respectively.

2. In case of re-grant of a certificate in case the old certificate is lost or damaged

Within 3 working days after receiving a valid request, the competent agency which has granted the certificate shall, based on the archived dossier, consider and re-grant the certificate. In case of refusal, it shall issue a written reply clearly stating the reason.

3. In case of changing production or business location; changing or adding production processes or trading items and upon expiration of certificates

The order and procedures for grant of a certificate must comply with Clause 1 of this Article.

4. In case the establishment is renamed while its owner, location, address,  production processes, and trading items are kept intact

Within 3 working days after receiving a valid request, the competent agency that has granted the certificate shall, based on the archived dossier, consider and re-grant the certificate; in case of refusal, it shall issue a written reply clearly stating the reason.

5. In case the establishment has a new owner but its name, address, location, production processes, and trading items are kept intact

Within 3 working days after receiving a valid request, the competent agency that has granted the certificate shall, based on the archived dossier, consider and re-grant the certificate; in case of refusal, it shall issue a written reply clearly stating the reason.

6. In case a chain of food trading establishments sees an increase or a decrease in the number of component establishments, the modification of the certificate with regard to these establishments must comply with Clause 3 of this Article.

7. For establishments producing and/or trading in the products prescribed in Clauses 8 and 10, Article 36 of the Government’s Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP of February 2, 2018, the inspection of the conditions of the establishments must comply with regulations applicable to relevant sectors and fields.

Article 6.Competence to grant certificates

1. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall grant certificates to:

a/ Establishments producing food products with an annual designed capacity of:

- Liquor: 3 million liters of products or higher;

- Beer: 50 million liters of products or higher;

- Beverages: 20 million liters  of products or higher;

- Processed milk: 20 million liters of products or higher;

- Vegetable oil: 50,000 tons  of products or higher;

- Confectionery: 20,000 tons of products or higher;

- Powder and starch: 100,000 tons of products or higher;

b/ Chains of food trading establishments (except chains of mini supermarkets and convenience stores each covering an area similar to that of a mini supermarket as prescribed by law); food wholesale establishments (including also those dealing in assorted types of food) conducting business in 2 or more provinces or centrally run cities;

c/ Establishments that conduct production and business activities at the same location and have a designed capacity as prescribed at Point a of this Clause;

d/ Food trading establishments prescribed at Point b of this Clause that produce food with a designed capacity lower than that prescribed at Point a of this Clause;

dd/ Establishments that produce or trade in different types of products prescribed in Clause 8 or 10, Article 36 of the Government’s Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP of February 2, 2018, at a scale that make them be subject to the management of the Ministry of Trade as prescribed at Point a of this Clause.

2. Provincial-level Industry and Trade Departments shall directly grant certificates or propose provincial-level People’s Committees to assign or delegate local competent agencies to grant certificates to:

a/ Establishments producing food products with a designed capacity lower than that prescribed at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article;

b/ Food wholesale and retail establishments (including those dealing in food of assorted types) of a trader, which are located in the same province or centrally run city; chains of supermarkets and convenience stores each covering an area similar to that of a mini supermarket as prescribed by law;

c/ Establishments that conduct production and trading activities at the same location with a designed capacity prescribed at Point a of this Clause;

d/ Establishments producing and trading in different types of products prescribed in Clause 8 or 10, Article 36 of the Government’s Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP of February 2, 2018, at a scale that make them be subject to the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade as prescribed at Point a of this Clause.

3. Principles of grant of certificates

a/ Competent agencies shall grant 1 certificate to each production or trading establishment prescribed at Point c, Clause 1 and Point c, Clause 2 of this Article;

b/ The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall grant 1 certificate for each trading establishment prescribed at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article. Local competent agencies shall grant 1 certificate for each chain of mini supermarkets and convenience stores each covering an area similar to that of a mini supermarket as prescribed by law under Clause b, Clause 2 of this Article;

c/ Wholesale establishments defined at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article which are also engaged in retail activities and trading establishments defined at Point d, Clause 1 of this Article may choose competent agencies to grant certificates to them.

Article 7.Validity duration of certificates

1. A certificate shall be valid for 3 years. If wishing to further conducting food production and trading activities, 6 months before its/his/her certificate expires, an organization or individual producing or trading in food shall submit a dossier of request for re-grant of a certificate under Clause 1, Article 4 of this Circular.

2. The validity duration of a certificate re-granted under Clause 2, 4 or 5, Article 4 of this Circular must comply with the validity duration of the old certificate.

3. A certificate re-granted under  Clause 3, Article 4 of this Circular shall be valid for 3 years from the date of re-grant.

Article 8.Inspection after granting certificates

1. Agencies competent to grant certificates specified in Article 6 of this Circular and competent functional agencies shall conduct inspection after certificates are granted.

2. Superior-level competent agencies may inspect establishments having certificates granted by subordinate-level competent agencies.

3. The number of inspections must not exceed one per year.

Article 9.Revocation of certificates

1. Production and trading establishments shall have their certificates revoked in the following cases:

a/ Forging dossiers of application for certificates;

b/ Leasing or borrowing certificates;

c/ Intentionally modifying certificates;

d/ Having already terminated production or trading activities.

2. Competence to revoke certificates

a/ Certificate granting agencies may revoke granted certificates;

b/ Superior-level competent agencies may revoke certificates granted by subordinate-level competent agencies.

Chapter III

AGENCIES PERFORMING STATE INSPECTION OF FOOD SAFETY OF IMPORTED FOOD, LABORATORIES PERFORMING FOOD TESTING FOR STATE MANAGEMENT PURPOSES, REFERENCE TESTING LABORATORIES

Article 10.Agencies performing state inspection of food safety of imported food

Organizations providing conformity assessment services in Vietnam’s territory that are evaluated as eligible for provision of certification or assessment services as prescribed in the Government’s Decree No. 107/2016/ND-CP of July 1, 2016, shall be assigned or designated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to perform state inspection of food safety of imported food falling under the state management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 11.Requirements for being designated as laboratories performing food testing for state management purposes

To comply with Clause 1, Article 25 of the Government’s Decree No. 77/2016/ND-CP of July 1, 2016, amending and supplementing a number of provisions on investment and business conditions in the fields of international goods purchase and sale, chemicals, industrial explosives, fertilizers, gas trading, and food trading under the state management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 12.Dossiers of registration for and order and procedures for designation of laboratories performing food testing for state management purposes

To comply with Joint Circular No. 20/2013/TTLT-BYT-BCT-BNNPTNT of August 1, 2013, of the Ministers of Health; Industry and Trade; and Agriculture and Rural Development, prescribing conditions, order and procedures for designating laboratories performing food testing for state management purposes.

Article 13.Requirements for being designated as reference testing laboratories

Being state-owned laboratories fully satisfying the conditions prescribed in Clause 2, Article 25 of the Government’s Decree No. 77/2016/ND-CP of July 1, 2016, amending and supplementing a number of provisions on business and investment conditions in the fields of international goods purchase and sale, chemicals, industrial explosives, fertilizers, gas trading, and food trading under the state management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 14.Dossiers of registration for, order and procedures for designation of reference testing laboratories

To comply with Chapter III of the Minister of Industry and Trade’s Circular No. 40/2013 of December 31, 2013, prescribing conditions, order and procedures for designation of food safety reference testing laboratories under the state management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Chapter IV

RECALL AND DISPOSITION OF UNSAFE FOOD

Article 15.Recalling competence

1. Food produced or traded by organizations and individuals failing to meet safety requirements must be recalled voluntarily or mandatorily and disposed of under Article 55 of the Law on Food Safety.

2. Agencies with mandatory recalling competence:

a/ Agencies designated by provincial-level People’s Committees to receive product self-declaration dossiers or dossiers for registration of product declarations;

b/ Agencies competent to sanction administrative violations may issue a mandatory recall under the Government’s Decree No. 115/2018/ND-CP of September 4, 2018, on sanctioning of administrative violations in food safety.

Article 16.Order of voluntary recall

1. Within 24 hours after detecting or receiving information on an unsafe product, if such product is determined as falling into a case subject to recall, the product owner shall:

a/ Notify by telephone, email or other equivalent forms of notification, and later in writing to the entire production and trading system (producers, distribution channels, agents and shops) to stop production and trading and carry out the product recall;

b/ Notify in writing to provincial-level mass media agencies and other related agencies and organizations in accordance with the law on protection of consumer interests; in case the recall is carried out in 2 or more provinces or centrally run cities, notify in writing to central mass media agencies for the latter to disseminate information on the to-be-recalled product to consumers;

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

d/ Notices of product recall must clearly state the name and address of the product owner and producer; product name; packaging specifications, lot number, date of production, expiry date, and quantity of to-be-recalled items, reasons for product recall, list of locations for receiving recalled items and the time of the product recall.

2. Within 3 days after the recall is completed, the product owner shall send to the agency in charge of food safety a report on the result of product recall, made according to Form No. 06a in the Appendix to this Circular, and propose the form of disposition of the recalled product.

Article 17.Order of mandatory recall

1. Within 24 hours after determining that a product falls into cases subject to mandatory recall, the agency competent to issue a recall decision specified in Clause 2, Article 18 of this Circular shall issue a recall decision, made according to Form No. 06b in the Appendix to this Circular.

2. Right after receiving the recall decision, the product owner shall comply with Clause 1, Article 19 of this Circular.

3. Within 3 days after the recall is completed, the product owner shall send  to the agency having issued the recall decision a report on the result of product recall, made according to Form No. 06a in the Appendix to this Circular, and propose the form of disposition of the recalled product.

4. Upon issuance of product recall decisions, agencies competent to sanction administrative violations shall monitor and notify the recall to agencies in charge of food safety and related agencies for coordination.

Article 18.Order of recall in critical and urgent situations

1. In case product owners fail to recall or fail to completely recall unsafe products under mandatory recall decisions issued by competent agencies or in other emergency cases specified at Point d, Clause 5, Article 55 of the Law on Food Safety, competent agencies shall issue decisions on coercive recall and organize the product recall. Such a decision must clearly state the agency or organization in charge of implementing the coercion, agency or organization in charge of monitoring or witnessing, the time limit for coercion and forms of disposition of recalled products.

2. After the recall and disposition of unsafe products are completed, agencies carrying out the recall and disposition of unsafe products shall issue a notice requesting product owners to pay for recall expenses.

3. Product owners shall pay recall and disposition expenses (if any) within 15 days after receiving a notice from agencies having carried out the product recall.

Article 19.Forms of disposition of recalled products

1. Products subject to recall shall be disposed of through:

a/ Correction of labeling errors: to be applied to products which are in label-related violations against product self-declaration dossiers or dossiers for registration of product declarations;

b/ Change of use purposes: to be applied to violating products that are likely to affect consumer health and must not be used in food but may be used in other fields;

c/ Re-export: to be applied to imported products which have their quality and safety limits inconsistent with product self-declaration dossiers or dossiers for registration of product declarations or affect consumer health;

d/ Destruction: to be applied to products which have their quality criteria and safety limits inconsistent with product self-declaration dossiers or dossiers for registration of product declarations, or affect consumer health, and may not change use purposes or be re-exported under Point b or c, Clause 1 of this Article and other necessary cases defined in Article 18 of this Circular.

2. In case its/his/her product is recalled under Article 16 of this Circular, the product owner shall itself/himself/herself choose to apply one of the forms of disposition of recalled products specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. In case its/his/her product is recalled under Article 17 of this Circular, within 3 working days after receiving a report on the result of product recall, the agency issuing the recall decision shall issue a written approval of the form of disposition of the recalled product proposed by the product owner. In case of disapproval, the agency issuing the recall decision shall give a written reply clearly stating the reason and put forth the disposition form for the product owner to apply.

Article 20.Reports on the result of disposition of recalled products

1. The product owner shall complete the disposition of recalled products under the competent agency’s mandatory recall decision within 3 months after obtaining the competent agency’s written approval of its/his/her proposed disposition form.

2. For cases of correction of labeling errors:

a/ In case of a voluntary recall: After correcting labeling errors, the product owner shall send a written report, clearly stating the name of the recalled product and quantity of recalled items, enclosed with a sample of the corrected product label, to the agency in charge of food safety. After sending the report, the product owner may sell its/his/her product to the market;

b/ In case of a mandatory recall: After correcting labeling errors, the product owner shall send a written report, clearly stating the name of the recalled product and quantity of recalled items, enclosed with a sample of the corrected product label, to the agency having issued the recall decision. Within 3 working days after receiving the product owner’s report, the agency having issued the recall decision shall make a written approval of the sale of the product to the market. In case of disapproval, it shall clearly state the reason. After obtaining a written approval of the sale of the product having labeling errors corrected to the market from the agency having issued the recall decision, the product owner shall reportsuch in writing to the agency in charge of food safety. The product owner may sell the product to the market only after obtaining a written approval from the agency having issued the recall decision.

3. For cases of change of use purposes

Within 5 working days, after completely changing the use purpose of the product, the product owner shall send a written report on the change of use purpose of  the product, clearly stating the name of the recalled product, quantity of recalled items, and the time and field for change of the product use purpose, enclosed with the contract and purchase and sale invoice between the product owner and the purchaser, to the agency in charge of food safety or the agency having issued the recall decision. Those that purchase products failing to meet food safety requirements may use such products only for the purposes as stated in contracts and reported to agencies in charge of food safety.

4. For cases of re-export

Within 5 working days, after the re-export is completed, the product owner shall send a written report on the re-export of the product, clearly stating name of the re-exported product, quantity of re-exported items, the country of origin, and time of re-export, enclosed with the re-export dossier, to the agency in charge of food safety and the agency having issued the recall decision.

5. For cases of destruction

Within 5 working days, after the destruction is completed, the product owner shall send a written report on the destruction of the product, clearly stating the name of the destroyed product, quantity of destroyed items, the time of completion of the destruction, and the location of destruction, enclosed with a record of destruction bearing the certification of the agency conducting the destruction, to the agency in charge of food safety or the agency having issued the recall decision.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 21.Transitional provisions

Food production and trading establishments that have been granted certificates of satisfaction of food safety conditions; and agencies performing state inspection of imported food, laboratories performing food testing for state management purposes, and reference testing laboratories that were designated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade before the effective date of this Circular may continue using such certificates or designation decisions until their expiry dates.

Article 22.Effect

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

2. To annul the Minister of Industry and Trade’s Circular No. 58/2014/TT-BCT of December 22, 2014, providing the grant and revocation of certificates of satisfaction of food safety conditions under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade; Chapters II, IV and V of the Minister of Industry and Trade’s Circular No. 40/2013/ TT-BCT of December 31, 2013, prescribing conditions, order and procedures for designation of food safety reference testing laboratories under the state management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade; and the Minister of Industry and Trade’s Circular No. 28/2013/TT-BCT of November 6, 2013, prescribing the state inspection of food safety of imported food under the state management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 23.Organization of implementation

1. Responsibilities of the Ministry of Industry and Trade

a/ The Science and Technology Department

To assume prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related units and provincial-level Departments of Industry and Trade in, guiding the implementation of this Circular;

To receive and examine the validity of dossiers, conduct physical inspection and propose the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s leaders to consider and grant certificates of satisfaction of food safety conditions for food production establishments and establishments conducting food production and trading activities at the same location specified at Points a, c and dd, Clause 1 of Article 6 of this Circular;

To receive and examine the validity of registration dossiers, organize evaluation and propose the Minister of Industry and Trade to consider and decide to assign or designate agencies performing state inspection of food safety of imported food, laboratories performing food testing for state management purposes, and reference testing laboratories operating in the fields under their assigned management.

b/ The Domestic Market Department

To receive and examine the validity of dossiers, conduct physical inspection and propose the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s leaders to consider and grant certificates of satisfaction of food safety conditions for, food trading establishments specified at Points b and d, Clause 1, Article 6 of this Circular.

2. Responsibilities of provincial-level Departments of Industry and Trade

a/ To receive and examine the validity of dossiers, conduct physical inspection and consider and grant certificates of satisfaction of food safety conditions for food production and trading establishments specified at Clause 2, Article 6 of this Circular or propose provincial-level People’s Committees to assign or decentralize local competent agencies to perform these jobs, depending on the practical situation in their localities;

b/ To submit annual reports to the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the results of  the grant of certificates of satisfaction of food safety conditions for food production and trading establishments specified in Clause 2, Article 6 of this Circular; the list of establishments under the state management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade not required to possess a certificate of satisfaction of food safety conditions as prescribed in Article 12 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; and the results of the recall and disposition of recalled products under mandatory recall decisions of local competent agencies.

3. In case a document referred to in this Circular is superseded or revised, the superseding or revising documents shall apply.

4. Any problems arising in the course of implementation of this Circular should be reported to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for settlement.-

Minister of Industry and Trade
TRAN TUAN ANH