Vietnam Regulatory News

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.

On 18 October 2022, the deputy prime minister signed and passed the new Decree 82/2022/ND-CP amending and supplementing articles of Decree 113 published on 2017 as well as detailing and guiding articl...

On 18 October 2022, the deputy prime minister signed and passed the new Decree 82/2022/ND-CP 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. 

These are the significant changes Decree 82/2022/ND-CP has on Decree 113/2017/ND-CP: 

• The process of declaration and custom clearance via National Single Window Portal in article 27. 

• Dinitro monoxide, cyanide compounds, mercury and mercury compounds are added to point a, clause 4, article 27 as hazardous chemicals needed to be controlled when being declared for import.

• 16 chemical substances are added to the Annex I (list of chemicals subject to conditional production or import) of Decree 113. 

• The substance no. 231, Table 1 (list of hazardous chemicals for which chemical incident prevention and response plans are required) Annex IV of Decree 113 changes from Mercury fulminate to Mercury and mercury compounds. 

• 6 chemicals are added to Annex V (list of chemicals subject to be declared) of Decree 113: Pentachloro benzene (PeCB); Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD); Polychlorinated naphthalene (PCN); Decabromodiphenyl ether (DBDE); Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and its salts and PFOA - related compounds; Perfluoro hexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts and PFHxS - related compounds.  

• Replace Annex II (list of industrial chemicals restricted from production and trading) and Annex VI (Licenses and Certificate) of Decree 113 by Annex II and Annex VI of Decree 82.  This indication associates Vietnam with its obligations under Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions. 

This decree will come into effect on 22 December 2022, while clause 14 article 1 in this decree will be valid one year later. 

New restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) have been suggested by Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to conform with the directives of ...

New restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) have been suggested by Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to conform with the directives of the EU. The discussion on the draft regulation will continue until 17 October 2022.

On 19 August 2022 a National Technical Regulation on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) was published by the MoIT. Four phthalates: Bis(2-Ethylhexyl) phthalate, Benzyl butyl phthalate, Dibutyl phthalate, and Diisobutyl phthalate would be added to Vietnam’s list of restricted substances in EEE.

According to the regulation draft-

• 0.1% or 1000 mg/kg will be the maximum use limit for every new substance in EEE.
• A certificate of conformity with three years validity will be necessary.
• The certificate must be obtained from a registered testing organization before placing certain EEE on the market.

Inclusion of the four phthalates would align the hazardous substance restrictions for EEE of Vietnam with the EUs RoHS Directives.

On 1 January 2026 the regulation will come into effect after getting approval. It would replace Vietnam’s existing RoHS regulation, Circular 30/2011/TT-BCT.

On August 19, 2022, Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) released a draft circular on distinguishing food-grade and non-food-grade alcohol based on the national technical regulation for alcoh...

On August 19, 2022, Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) released a draft circular on distinguishing food-grade and non-food-grade alcohol based on the national technical regulation for alcoholic beverage. The purpose of this circular is to prevent the use of non-food-grade alcohol in manufacturing alcoholic beverages. MOIT proposed the use of coloring agents, flavoring agents, and warning signs to make industrial and food-grade alcohol distinct.   

This circular is applied to organizations and individuals related to manufacturing, trading, and or using industrial alcohol in Vietnam.  

Industrial alcohol according to the definition of MOIT is ethanol (C2H5OH), consisting of harmful ingredients that does not meet the requirements for food-grade alcohol according to QCVN 6-3:2010/BYT, the national technical regulation for alcoholic beverages.  

The requirements of the coloring and flavoring agents adding to industrial alcohol:  

• Should not be listed in Decree 113/2017/ND-CP (implementation guidelines on licenses, classification, plans/measures for chemical incident, safety training, declaration) 

• Should not create chemical reactions with industrial alcohol and other substances in alcohol-containing mixture  

• Should not produce toxins affecting health  

• The solution after adding coloring agent must create distinctive color to differentiate from food-grade alcohol  

• The solution after adding flavoring agents must have horrible distinctive taste of industrial to differentiate from food-grade alcohol  

The information of added coloring and flavoring agents in the solution must be added on labels and safety data sheet. In the safety data sheet, industrial alcohol must be clearly stated as “do not drink”.  

The differentiation industrial and food-grade alcohol by using warning signs is guided according to the appendix of the circular draft before entering the market. 

The circular draft will receive comment until October 17, 2022.