Reference situation:

A Company is located at Hanoi, specializing in producing and supplying baozi (a type of dumpling) to market. A Company would like to consult about the procedures, sequences, and documents required to obtain a certificate of food safety eligibility.

Legal grounds:

1. Law on food safety No. 55/2010/QH12
2. Decree No. 15/2018/NĐ-CP detailing some articles of Law on food safety
3. Decree No. 155/2018/NĐ-CP on amendment and addition to some investment business conditions managed by Ministry of Health
4. Joint Circular No. 13/2014/TTLT-BYT-BNNPTNT-BCT guiding the assignment and coordination between State agencies relating to food safety
5. Circular No. 43/2018/TT-BCT on food safety management of the Ministry of Industry and Trading

Our legal advice:

1. The company must obtain the certificate of food safety eligibility for the following reasons:  

According to clause 1 Article 11 of Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP, a facility producing, trading food must obtain a certificate of food safety eligibility, with the following exceptions:

– Micro food production

– Mobile food production and trading

– Micro food processing

– Micro food trading

– Prepacked food trading

– Production and trading of equipment and materials for wrapping and storing food

– Restaurant in a hotel

– Industrial kitchen not registering food trading

– Street food trading

– The facility was issued one of the following certificates: Good manufacturing practice (GMP), Hazard Analysis and Critical control points (HACCP), ISO 22000 food safety management system, International featured standard (IFS), British Retail Consortium (BRC), FSSC 22000 food safety management system or an equivalent valid certificate.

Accordingly, the situation does not fall into any exemption cases, as shown above, the company must obtain the certificate of food safety eligibility.

2. Conditions for obtaining a certificate of food safety eligibility

A company is producing and trading processed food. Therefore, the company must satisfy the following conditions:

• Ensuring food safety in its production and trading facilities
• Ensuring food safety with food materials, food additives, micronutrient used for food processing under laws
• Ensuring food safety in facility trading processed food under laws
• Registering food trading business line in the Business registration certificate

3. Procedures for issuance of the certificate of food safety eligibility 

First, the company must perform the procedures for confirming food safety knowledge 

• Licensing authority: Hanoi Department of Industry and Trading

• Necessary documents:

– An application form for confirming food safety knowledge

– A list of people wishing to confirm their food safety knowledge

– A copy of the certificate of business location registration

– Proofs of payment of fee under laws on charges and fees

• Sequence:

– Step 1: A Company submit a set of necessary documents, as shown above, at Hanoi Department of Industry and Trading

– Step 2: The Department will create a plan on confirming food safety knowledge, and notify the time and location for conducting such a plan within 10 working days from the date of receipt of valid documents.

– Step 3: The Department will check and assess the food safety knowledge of candidates. After 03 working days from the date of knowledge checking and assessment, the Department is responsible for the issuance of the certificate of food safety knowledge, to those who answer correctly more than 80% of questions of knowledge.

• Achieved result: A certificate of food safety eligibility

Second, the company must perform the procedures for the issuance of the certificate of food safety eligibility

• Licensing authority: Hanoi Department of Industry and Trading
• Necessary documents:

– An application form

– An explanatory statement form about facilities, tools, and equipment for ensuring food safety

– A certified copy of a certificate of good health, or of a list of owners and people directly producing, trading food, which is issued by a district-level or higher medical establishment.

– A certified copy, of a certificate of training food safety knowledge, or of a certificate of food safety knowledge of owners and people directly producing, trading food.

• Sequence:

• Step 1: A Company will submit a set of the necessary documents, as shown, above at Hanoi Department of Industry and Trading
• Step 2: The Department will check the validity of the documents; if the documents are invalid, the Department will notify on amendment and addition to the documents.  If the company does not reply to such notification of the Department within 30 days from the date of such notification,  the documents are deemed to invalid.
• Step 3: The Department will conduct an examination in the facility within 10 working days, from the date of receipt of valid documents.
• Step 4: The Department will issue the certificate of food safety eligibility within 05 working days from the date of achievement of a good result in the examination in Step 3.
• Achieved result: A certificate of food safety eligibility

Please click here for more reference to the procedures for obtaining the certificate of food safety eligibility.