Question:
Our company is planning to import several product items for sale. I would like to ask whether goods labels on the Vietnamese market are required to be presented in Vietnamese.
Answer:
Pursuant to Article 7 of Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CP (as amended by Clause 4, Article 1 of Decree No. 111/2021/ND-CP), the language used on goods labels is regulated as follows:
Language used on goods labels
1.Mandatory contents required to be shown on goods labels must be written in Vietnamese, except for the cases specified in Clause 4 of this Article.
2.For goods manufactured and circulated domestically, in addition to complying with the provisions in Clause 1 of this Article, the contents on the label may also be written in another language. The contents written in another language must correspond to the Vietnamese contents, and the font size of the foreign language text must not be larger than that of the Vietnamese text.
3.For goods imported into Viet Nam whose labels do not show, or do not fully show, the mandatory contents in Vietnamese, an auxiliary (supplementary) label displaying the mandatory contents in Vietnamese must be attached, while the original label of the goods must be retained. The Vietnamese contents must correspond to those shown on the original label.
4.The following contents are permitted to be written in other languages using Latin-based scripts:
a) International or scientific names of medicinal products for human use where no Vietnamese name exists;
b) International or scientific names together with chemical formulas or structural formulas of chemicals, active pharmaceutical ingredients, excipients, or components of medicinal products;
c) International or scientific names of ingredients and quantitative compositions of goods where such names cannot be translated into Vietnamese or where the Vietnamese translation has no meaning;
d) Names and addresses of foreign enterprises related to the manufacture of goods.
Accordingly, for goods circulating on the Vietnamese market, mandatory labeling contents must be presented in Vietnamese. For goods manufactured and circulated domestically, additional foreign languages may be used, provided that such contents correspond to the Vietnamese version and are not more prominent than the Vietnamese text.
