On December 21, 2015, the Ministry of Health issued the Circular No. 52/2015/TT-BYT on regulations on state inspection of imported food safety,
and applications and procedures for grant of certificate of export to exported foods under the administration of the Ministry of Health.
In accordance with this Circular’s regulations, standard inspection (include: is the inspection of the application and representative sample by which food labels, packages and special preservation (if any) are organoleptically examined) applies to all articles of an imported shipment, except for cases regulated in clause 2 and clause 3 of this Article.
Any article that is certified as satisfactory for food safety requirements by competent authorities of the signatories of the international agreement on mutual recognition of food safety inspection and quality to which Vietnam is a signatory; a article that is certified as conformable with Vietnam’s regulations by the competent authorities of the exporting country. Articles that meet the import requirements in 03 consecutive standard inspections conducted on different days within 12 months (if any).
Strict inspection applies where the article fails to pass the previous inspection, such product shall undergo a documentary inspection and shall be sampled for testing of indicators presented in its declarations; and where the Ministry of Health or overseas competent authority or the manufacturer issues warnings against the article, such product shall undergo a standard inspection and testing for warned indicators, or where the results of warned indicator inspection is required to be issued by inspecting agencies that is recognized by the State competent authority of the exporting country.
This Circular takes effect on February 23, 2016.
