INTRODUCTION
Understanding Vietnamese laws and regulations concerning food can be a challenge. The government relies on general laws to regulate the quality of goods, including food. There are also specific regulations which apply to food products. This means that there are two sets of rules--one covering goods in general and another covering food products--and they often overlap.
The major laws on the subject are the Law on the Quality of Products and Goods1 ("LoQPG") and the Law on Food Safety2 ("LoFS"). The former states that "the State shall implement a uniform system to control the quality of goods." 3 However, "in cases where international treaties, to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party, contain provisions which differ from the Law, the international treaties shall prevail."4
The LoQPG came into effect on 1 July 2008 and replaced the Ordinance on the Quality of Goods. It provides that manufacturers and traders must take responsibility for the quality of the goods or products that they manufacture or trade, in order to ensure safety for humans, animals, plants, property, and the environment, and to enhance the productivity, quality, and competitiveness of Vietnamese goods and products.5 It further defines 'goods' and 'products', which essentially cover food.
The LoFS, with effect from 1 July 2011, replaced the Ordinance on the Hygiene and Safety of Foods. Mainly, it describes the rights and obligations of organizations and individuals with respect to food safety; conditions to ensure the safety of food for manufacturing, doing business in food, and importing or exporting food; advertising and labelling food; testing food; analyzing threats to food safety; and protecting, preventing, and overcoming breakdowns in food safety; education and communication on food safety; and State management responsibility for food safety. 6
The LoQPG gives the Ministry of Science and Technology ("MOST") overall responsibility for the quality of goods, including foods, 7 while the LoFS assigns responsibility for the safety of food to the Ministry of Health ("MOH"), 8 the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ("MARD"), 9 and the Ministry of Industry and Trade ("MOIT"). 10
WHAT IS FOOD?
The LoFS defines "foods" as follows: "Foods are products which human beings eat and drink in their fresh, raw, processed or preserved forms. Foods do not include cosmetics, tobacco, and medicinal products."11 There are sub-definitions of different types of food, including fresh and raw food, micronutrient-fortified food, functional food, genetically modified food, irradiated food, street food, and packaged food.
These categories are defined further as follows:
"Fresh and raw food" is unprocessed food including fresh meat, eggs, fish, aquatic products, vegetables, tubers, fruits, and other unprocessed foods.12
"Micronutrient-fortified food" is food supplemented with vitamins, mineral substances, and serum antioxidant micro-minerals in order to prevent the community or a particular group in the community from a shortage of vitamins, substances, and microminerals.13
"Functional food" is food used to support the operation of body organs, creates comfort for the body, increases resistance, and reduces pathogenic dangers. It consists of food supplements, health protective food, and medically nutritious food. 14 Detailed regulations on functional foods are provided in the MOH's Circular 43/2014/TT-BYT dated 24 November 2014.
"Genetically modified food" is food which consists of one or more materials which have been genetically modified.15
"Irradiated food" is food radiated by a form of radioactivity to preserve and prevent food from degenerating. 16 Detailed regulations on irradiated foods are provided in the MOH's Decision 3616/2004/QD-BYT dated 14 October 2004.
"Street food" is a ready-to-eat food or beverage. It is obtained from a vendor, sold on street sides, in public, or in similar places.17
"Packaged food" is completely packaged and labeled food, which may be eaten or processed further.18
FOOD SAFETY
All individuals and entities that want to produce and to trade foods must assure that their foods are safe. In other words, the foods must conform to the relevant technical specifications and meet limit requirements for pathogenic microorganisms, residues of plant protection drugs or veterinary drugs, heavy metals, contaminants, and other substances in food that may cause harm to human life and health. In addition, subject to the type of food, food must comply with one or more of the regulations on (i) use of food additives and processing aids in food production and trading; (ii) food packaging and labeling; and (iii) food preservation.19
The quality of goods and products is managed on the basis of applicable announcement standards and technical specifications. 20 The system of Vietnamese standards includes national standards ("TCVN") and standards applied voluntarily by businesses and individuals ("TCCS"). 21 Vietnamese standards are based on international, regional, and foreign standards. Also included are the outcomes of scientific and technological research projects, technical progress, factual experience, and the results of evaluations, tests, experiments, inspections, and appraisals.22
At one time, all goods were subject to quality "registration". That is, the State required individuals and organizations that produced and traded goods to follow certain quality standards. Foods were no exception. Foods had to be registered with the MOH. The registration included information such as: a list of standards with which the food products must comply; a chart showing the stages of food product processing from storage of raw materials through the processing stage and ultimately to storage and delivery of the finished product; a final or draft version of the label; instructions and warranties; test results for the food product issued by an authorized government test centre; and a list of all raw materials used to process a food product, including additives and packing materials. The MOH had the power to reject an application for registration.
However, under the LoQPG, individuals and organizations that produce and trade in goods, including foods, are required only to "announce", rather than "register", their own quality standards. Under the LoFS, producers and traders must decide and announce the standards of their foods. That is, they are able, themselves, to decide the standard of their goods. 23 Of course, such standards must satisfy applicable Vietnamese standards or industry standards. Accordingly, the prior authoritarian role of the State regarding the quality standards of goods, including food, has been changed into voluntary commitments by entities to set and to comply with their own standards.
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Footnotes
1. Law No. 05/2007/QH12 adopted by the National Assembly on 21 November 2007 on the quality of products and goods.
2. Law No. 55/2010/QH12 adopted by the National Assembly on 17 June 2010 on food safety
3. LoQPG, art 68.1
4. Id, art 4.3.
5. Id, art 5.2
6. LoFS, art 1.
7. LoQPG, art 68.2
8. LoFS, art 62.
9. Id, art 63.
10. Id, art 64.
11. LoFS, art 2.20.
12. Id, art 2.21.
13. Id, art 2.22.
14. Id, art 2.23.
15. Id, art 2.24.
16. Id, art 2.25.
17. Id, art 2.26.
18. Id, art 2.27.
19. LoFS, art 10.
20. LoQPG, art 5.1.
21. Law on Standards and Technical Specifications 68/2006/QH11 dated 29 June 2006 ("LoSTS"), art 10 and art 11.3.
22. Id, art 13.
23. LoFS, art. 7.1.a
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