Continue to guide the implementation of Decree 15 on food safety

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	The General Department of Vietnam Customs guides implementation of Decree 15 on food safety
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Officers of Lao Cai border-gate Customs Branch inspect imports and exports. Photo: Thanh Nga.

Firstly, the certificate of registration of products announced by the provincial and municipal Customs Departments shall comply with the guidance at Point 2 of Official Letter No. 1267 / TCHQ-GSQL (guiding the implementation of the Decree 15/2018 / ND-CP). Customs declarants only have to submit the first copy of the registration certificate of the product announcement (copy certified by the enterprise) when carrying out Customs procedures at the Customs office. The Customs Branch where the imported Customs procedures are to be set up shall have a database for monitoring, checking reconciliation, not requiring the Customs declarers to pay for the subsequent import. At the same time, they must send a scanned copy to the General Department of Vietnam Customs for synthesis and development of a database in service of the inspections of Customs.

Secondly, on the application of the certificate of announcement of technical conformity publication / Receipt of publication of food safety conformance declaration, the General Department of Vietnam Customs said that if the certificate of acceptance of a conformity announcement is still valid, the products shall be exempted from State inspection of food safety upon import as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 13 of Decree No. 15/2018 / ND-CP.

The submission of the paper on receipt of the announcement of the technical conformity announcement / letter of acceptance of the food safety conformity publication is the same as the acceptance of the publication of the product declaration.

For imported alcohol products, according to the provisions of Article 30 of the Government's Decree No. 105/2017 / ND-CP on liquor trading, imported alcohol shall be granted certificates of declaration of technical conformity or certification. The product conforms to food safety regulations (for alcohol not subject to technical regulation) before import. The submission of product declaration in accordance with the provisions of Decree No. 15/2018 / ND-CP shall be accepted for import procedures as stipulated in Article 30 of Decree No. 105/2017 / ND-CP.

Thirdly, as for the State inspection agency for imported food, as stipulated in Articles 15, 18, 19, 37, 38 and 39 of Decree 15/2018 / ND-CP, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have the responsibility to assign or designate the State inspection agency for food safety for the import of products. However, at present, the Customs office only receives the list of state inspection bodies for food safety imported by the Ministry of Health. Therefore, while waiting for the ministries to announce the list of agencies assigned or designated to carry out State inspection of imported food safety as prescribed, the Customs office shall base on the notification of the certification of imported food requirements by agencies designated by the specialized management agencies under Decree 38/2012 / ND-CP to decide the goods clearance.

Fourthly, for the cases which are subject to State inspections of food safety, while waiting for the ministries to promulgate a list of goods subject to state inspection of food safety under the provisions of Decree 15/2018. / ND-CP, the Customs offices shall continue to base on the lists promulgated by ministries and branches according to Decree No. 38/2012 / ND-CP for handling Customs procedures according to regulations; issued with Decree 15/2018 / ND-CP.

In the case where importers are listed in Annexes II, III and IV of Decree No. 15/2018 / ND-CP but not yet specified in the list announced by the concerned ministries and branches, the Customs office shall base on the list of goods for export and import under Circular 65/2017 / TT-BTC to apply HS codes and apply management policies according to regulations.

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Fifthly, the documents to be submitted under the reduced inspection method, in Articles 16, 18 and 19 of Decree No. 15/2018 / ND-CP, the maximum reduction shall be 5% within one year. In order to have a baseline for the examination of the dossier at a maximum rate of 5% as provided for in Article 19, local Customs offices shall only require the Customs declarant to submit the documents in Point A, Clause 1, Article 18 when carrying out import procedures. Customs Branch shall set up a database for monitoring and checking, not requiring the Customs declarants to pay for the subsequent import and at the same time send a scanned copy to the General Department of Vietnam Customs for synthesis and construction.