Updating Regulations and Solutions for Streamlining Food Import Procedures
A seminar guiding businesses on state inspection regulations for imported foods, aimed at shortening customs clearance time and enhancing compliance capabilities.
The seminar served as a professional forum for updating new legal regulations and providing guidance on state inspection procedures for imported food safety, while addressing practical difficulties to help businesses ensure compliance and improve customs clearance efficiency.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Thi Hong Hao, Director of the National Institute for Food Control (NIFC), chaired the event on July 17. With modern infrastructure applying international standards such as ISO/IEC 17025, ISO/IEC 17020, and ISO/IEC 17065, the Institute affirms its leading role in food safety management for the health, agriculture, and industry sectors.
MSc. MD. Nguyen Van Nhien, former Deputy Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Health, emphasized that risk management is the 'golden key' for businesses. He noted that entities must strictly comply with Decree No. 15/2018/NĐ-CP, prepare accurate self-declaration dossiers, and maintain strict control over international quality certifications such as HACCP, ISO 22000, IFS, or BRC.
Representatives from the Department of State Inspection for Imported Food shared five key technical notes, including identifying the correct management agency by HS code, standardizing electronic dossiers on the National Single Window portal, and ensuring information consistency on Vietnamese sub-labels to avoid administrative errors.
Regarding professional aspects, MSc. Nguyen Thi Hong Ngoc clarified the testing criteria and experimental methods for each product category. Representatives from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the General Department of Vietnam Customs also directly engaged in dialogues, addressing arising scenarios to create maximum convenience for import-export activities.
