According to Article 4 of Decree 15/2018/ND-CP detailing the implementation of several articles of the Law on Food Safety, food production, and trading establishments have the right to self-declare their food products. However, the state has specific regulations on administrative procedures for the self-declaration of food products by production and business establishments.

Legal basis

• Law on food safety
• Decree no. 15/2018/NĐ-CP – Elaboration of some articles of the law of food safety

The objects of the procedure

According to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 4 of Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP, food production, and trading organizations and individuals may self-declare the following products:

• Prepackaged processed foods;
• Food Additives;
• Food processing aids;
• Food containers and containers;
• Packaging materials that come into direct contact with food.

In addition, production and business organizations and individuals are not allowed to self-declare the following products:

• Products and raw materials for production and import are only used for production and processing of goods for export;
• Products and materials produced and imported for the internal production of organizations and individuals are not consumed in the domestic market.

The procedures

Step 1: Self-publish the product

Organizations and individuals producing and trading food products shall self-declare their products on the mass media or their electronic information pages or publicly post them at the headquarters of the organization or individual.

Step 2: Submit the product self-declaration dossier to the competent state agency

Organizations and individuals self-declaring products shall submit 01 set of self-declaration dossiers to competent state agencies designated by provincial-level People’s Committees.

The dossier

• The self-declaration of products made according to Form No. 01, Appendix I issued together with Decree 15/2018/ND-CP;
• A certificate of results of food safety testing of products within 12 months from the date of application is issued by a designated testing laboratory or a laboratory accredited under ISO 17025 including safety criteria promulgated by the Ministry of Health according to the principles of risk management following international regulations or safety criteria according to relevant regulations and standards announced by organizations and individuals in the absence of such regulations (original or certified true copy).
• Documents in the self-declaration dossier must be in Vietnamese; if there are documents in foreign languages, they must be translated into Vietnamese and notarized. The document must be valid at the time of self-disclosure.
• In case an organization or individual has 02 (two) or more production establishments that produce the same product, the organization or individual only applies to a local state management agency where the facility is located. production selected by organizations and individuals. Once the state management agency has been selected to submit the dossier, the subsequent self-announcement must submit the dossier at the previously selected agency.
• Immediately after self-announcing products, organizations and individuals are entitled to manufacture and trade products and take full responsibility for their safety;
• In case a product has a change in product name, origin, or composition, the organization or individual must re-announce the product. In case of other changes, organizations and individuals shall notify in writing of the changed contents to competent state management agencies and may manufacture and trade products immediately after sending the notices.

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