Vietnam Regulatory News

The second draft amendment to Decree No. 38/2014/ND-CP on the Management of Chemicals Covered by the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapo...

The second draft amendment to Decree No. 38/2014/ND-CP on the Management of Chemicals Covered by the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction was published by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam (MOIT) on May 5, 2023. 

The Draft suggests:  

• clarifying the definition of "designated chemical substances"  

• updating the current Chemical Weapons Convention provisions on the production of "designated chemical substances"  

• adding new provisions on exemptions from obtaining trade licenses and import/export permits based on concentration thresholds  

• adding provisions on the storage and use of such chemicals 

• standardizing the due dates for submitting various reports.  

The original draft amendment, which was released on June 9, 2022, has also undergone a lot of modifications. Comments on the Draft were welcome until May 31, 2023. 

In Vietnam, it is mandatory to register the use of controlled substance under Decree No. 06/2022/ND-CP on Reduction of Green House Gas Emissions and Protection of Ozone Layer enacted by the Government...

In Vietnam, it is mandatory to register the use of controlled substance under Decree No. 06/2022/ND-CP on Reduction of Green House Gas Emissions and Protection of Ozone Layer enacted by the Government on January 7,2022. On the same day the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) also enacted Circular No. 01/2022/TT-BTNMT providing Detailed Regulations on implementation of Climate Change Response in the Law on Environmental Protection. On March 2, 2023, the Climate Change Bureau of the MONRE published a list as document no 237/BDKH-GNPT which consist of all the companies that have submitted applications for the registration of the use of controlled substances.

The substances that are present in the decree No. 06/2022/ND-CP as controlled substances are as follows:

• Bromochloromethane
• Carbon tetrachloride (CTC)
• Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)
• Halon
• Hydrobromofluorocarbons (HBFCs)
• Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)
• Bromomethane
• Trichloroethane
• Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)

A company carrying out business that concerns manufacturing of controlled substances, import, export, reuse, recycling of controlled substances, manufacture or import of any product that is made up of or contain controlled substances has to register its use with the MONRE by January 15 of each year.

On March 13, 2023, the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment promoted Circular No. 01/2023/TT-BTNMT which leads to establishment of new National technical regulations (QCVN) on diff...

On March 13, 2023, the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment promoted Circular No. 01/2023/TT-BTNMT which leads to establishment of new National technical regulations (QCVN) on different environmental qualities.

These regulations will come into force from September 12, 2023, and will be replacing previous regulations for ambient air, soil, surface water, underground water, and marine water.

The renewed regulations consist of following:

5. National Technical Regulation on Soil Quality (QCVN 03:2023/BTNMT)

5. National Technical Regulation on Ambient Air Quality (QCVN 05:2023/BTNMT)

5. National Technical Regulation on Surface Water Quality (QCVN 08:2023/BTNMT)

5. National Technical Regulation on Underground Water Quality (QCVN 09:2023/BTNMT)

5. National Technical Regulation on Marine Water Quality (QCVN 10:2023/BTNMT)

These regulations are updated against previous existed environmental regulations in Vietnam. The renewed QCVN on soil is a compilation of previous four QCVNs as one.

The idea to renew regulations that are concerned with the regulation of emissions such as wastewater and exhaust gas seems to be litigious and will be revealed separately.

In the circular 17/2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade informed that the current date for enterprises to submit their annual report has changed from January 15th to February 15th. Additionally, o...

In the circular 17/2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade informed that the current date for enterprises to submit their annual report has changed from January 15th to February 15th. Additionally, organizations no longer have to submit hard copies of their annual report, instead they can submit the digital version by filling in the form in the national chemical database. 

The annual report is mandatory for organizations that have trading activities with chemical substances belongs to the following lists according to current law, decrees and circulars: 

1. Chemicals subject to conditional production and trading 

2. Restriction chemicals 

3. Prohibited chemicals 

4. Industrial precursors 

5. Chemicals requiring incident prevention plan 

6. Chemicals subject to declaration  

Chemicals belonging to the first and second lists also require import permission certificate from Vietnam chemical agency. The permits are valid for 6 months. 

Any organizations wanting to import any chemicals in the above lists have to register themselves to become a legal entity and have their business registration certificate to obtain their tax number in Vietnam. The tax number is used for the trading activities as well as an account on Vietnam national chemical database system to submit their annual report. 

On 27 October 2002, the minister of Ministry of Industry and Trade signed a new circular on amending and supplementing articles of Decree 113 published on 2017 as well as detailing and guiding article...

On 27 October 2002, the minister of Ministry of Industry and Trade signed a new circular on amending and supplementing articles of Decree 113 published on 2017 as well as detailing and guiding articles within the Law on Chemical valid from 2008. 

The amendments are as follows: 

• A more detailed description of the roles of Vietnam Chemical Agency 

• Change in Classifying and labeling chemicals: labeling chemicals is conducted according to Decree 43/2017/ND-CP and decree 111/2021/ND-CP with instructions under Annex 8 

• Modification to make this circular coherent with changes made in Decree 82/2022  

• Change the deadline to submit annual chemical report on February 15th every year via National Chemical Database, and the recipients of the report are Vietnam Chemical Agency, local-level Department of Industry and Trade where chemicals are traded or produced 

• Change the deadline for local-level Department of Industry and Trade to report their management procedure to March 1st every year to Vietnam Chemical Agency via National Chemical Database  

• A new Annex 3 listed the forms to be used in the process of appraising and approving chemical incident prevention and response plans 

• A new Annex 5 regarding chemical activity report forms for organizations and individuals, and Ministry of Industry and Trade 

• Legal information that is removed: 

• Clause 1 in article 4 on promulgating the legal certificates and licenses for production and trading; Annex 1 detailing the legal certificates and licenses for production and trading mentioned in this clause 

• Clause 2 in article 4 on promulgating licenses to export and import industrial precursors; Annex 2 detailing the licenses to export and import industrial precursors 

• Clause 1 in article 5 on plan to prevent and respond to chemical accidents mentioned; the whole Annex 6 detailing plan to prevent and respond to chemical accidents 

• Clause 4 in article 6 on Secondary labels on chemicals 

• Clause 1 & 2 in article 8 on the custom clearance processes when import chemicals 

• Article 10 on the responsibility to conduct administrative procedure and the roles of local level Department of Industry and Trade 

• Point b clause 3 in article 11 on provoking the validation of the registration certificates and licenses before Decree 113 comes into effect 

• Part 3 of Annex 7 on the classification criteria for SOL flammable gas 

This decree will come into effect on 22 December 2022, while clause 6 article 1 regarding the annual report process and deadlines in this decree will be valid one year later. 

The second Draft of the National Technical Regulation on Thresholds for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Articles, Products, Commodities, and Equipment was issued by Vietnam's Ministry of N...

The second Draft of the National Technical Regulation on Thresholds for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Articles, Products, Commodities, and Equipment was issued by Vietnam's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) on 15 September 2022, and comments are now being accepted until 14 November 2022. This law would apply to companies in Vietnam that import, manufacture, trade, or use raw materials, fuels, products, commodities, or equipment that contains POPs. It is scheduled to go into effect on 1 January 2023.  

The first draft, which was released on 12 November 2021, included concentration limits for certain POPs that were allowed in plastic items, electronic devices, articles, goods, commodities, equipment, food contact materials, firefighting foam and more. It also outlined the maximum allowed values for seven different types of POPs in a variety of materials and products. 

The technical regulation would also mandate conformity assessments, compliant labelling, and government notification of any raw materials, products, goods, and equipment containing POPs before they could be sold on the Vietnamese market by businesses importing, manufacturing, trading, or using the specified products. Exporters would not be subject to the restriction.  

7 POP compounds are regulated in the second draft, each with a specific set of requirements. 

In September, the ministry of natural resources and environment open the public consultation for the second draft of the national technical regulation proposing thresholds for several persistent organ...

In September, the ministry of natural resources and environment open the public consultation for the second draft of the national technical regulation proposing thresholds for several persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in raw materials, materials, products, commodities and equipment. The first draft was published in November 2021, specified limits for certain POPs in different substances, covering the maximum amounts of several types allowed in plastic products, electronic devices and other products, and limits on perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in food contact materials, firefighting foam and more. 

The draft of national technical regulation applies for the individuals and organizations imported POPs and raw materials, materials, products, goods, equipment that contain POPs, responsible authorities and assessing organizations involve in the importing process of POPs. According to the second draft, individuals and organizations import POPs, and raw materials, materials, products, goods, equipment that contain POPs, they need to follow the assessment procedure according to the national technical regulation, label and update the information before entering the markets. The second draft consists of the following changes compared to the first draft: 

• The procedure of assessing the POPs content in raw materials, materials, products, goods, equipment must be carried out by the following organizations:  

• Domestic testing organizations and foreign testing organizations have licensed branch or representative offices operating in Vietnam with environmental monitoring services operating eligibility certificate. 

• Foreign testing organization is accredited to the international standard ISO/IEC 17025 by a public organization admitted to be a participant in signing the mutual recognition agreement of International Accreditation Forum (IAF), Asia-Pacific Accreditation Association Ocean (APAC), International Laboratory Accreditation Association (ILAC). 

• Removing limits on tetrabromodiphenyl ether and pentabromodiphenyl ether for plastic and plastic details in electrical and electronic equipment; limits on hexabromodiphenyl ether and heptabromodiphenyl ether for plastic and plastic details in electrical and electronic equipment.  

• Adding limits for hexabromodiphenyl ether and heptabromodiphenyl ether for vehicle parts, including plastic parts, thermoplastics, and polyurethane foam in seats and cushions; and limits for PFOA for medical devices intended for implantation. 

The National Technical Regulation is expected to come into effect on 1st January 2023.