Recommendations from food industry giants to untie business

Food businesses in Vietnam are proposing reforms to some regulations in Decree 15/2018/ND-CP on food safety to reduce administrative burdens and facilitate production and business activities.

Recommendations from food industry giants to untie business

Food businesses in Vietnam are proposing reforms to some regulations in Decree 15/2018/ND-CP on food safety to reduce administrative burdens and facilitate production and business activities.

Vinamilk, Hau Giang Pharmaceutical propose to change testing regulations

Vinamilk, one of the biggest brands in the dairy industry in Vietnam, has pointed out a major problem in product testing regulations.

One of the notable points in administrative reform is the construction of a unified food safety management software system from central to local levels.

Specifically, the company has difficulty testing product indicators because each testing unit has different internal methods. In addition, testing methods are constantly changing, making it difficult to maintain stability and comply with regulations.

Vinamilk proposed that the Ministry of Health should provide a list of indicators along with the designated testing methods. This will help businesses easily comply with regulations without having to worry about the constant changes in testing methods. In particular, removing the requirement to declare testing methods in product declaration documents will reduce complexity for food manufacturing businesses.

Sharing the same view, Hau Giang Pharmaceutical believes that the regulation requiring food safety test certificates to be issued by ISO 17025 certified testing laboratories is unreasonable and costly for businesses.

Instead of requiring testing laboratories to meet ISO 17025, Hau Giang Pharmaceutical recommends adding the option of facilities that meet Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards to reduce costs for businesses.

Traphaco, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in Vietnam, has proposed a number of improvements to product declaration procedures. The company believes that current regulations are creating unnecessary complexity and causing difficulties for businesses that produce raw materials, processing aids or utensils that come into direct contact with food.

Traphaco proposes to exempt self-declaration procedures for products manufactured or imported for export or internal use only and not for domestic consumption. This will help reduce administrative procedures and costs for businesses, while creating more transparency in production and business activities.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) also raised an important issue in the regulation on "functional foods introduced to the market for the first time".

According to VASEP, if this regulation is applied too strictly, products processed from natural ingredients or products that are already present in many countries around the world may be considered "new", causing difficulties in product circulation.

VASEP recommends that the concept of functional foods introduced to the market for the first time should be revised to only apply to products with new ingredients or uses that have never been used as functional foods in any country in the world. This will help reduce confusion and facilitate the easy circulation of natural products on the market.

Administrative procedure reform towards a favorable business environment

One of the prominent issues in the administrative procedure reform recommendations is the old regulation requiring businesses to translate and notarize legal documents such as Free Sale Certificate (FSC), Export Certificate (EC), Health Certificate (HC) or Good Manufacturing Practice Certificate (GMP) after consular legalization.

However, this has created many difficulties and costs for businesses when they have to carry out this procedure again, even though the documents have been legally certified.

The Food Safety Department, Ministry of Health has issued a draft amendment, proposing to change the regulation, only requiring notarized translation when using a language other than English. This not only reduces costs and time for businesses but also helps create more favorable conditions for preparing documents.

In the context of digital transformation, a notable proposal is to allow the use of electronic copies of consularly legalized legal documents.

This is an important step forward, helping to reduce costs and save time for businesses, while creating transparency and efficiency in state management.

The Ministry of Health also proposed some amendments to simplify testing procedures. Health food production facilities that meet GMP standards will be allowed to use Test Result Forms instead of having to send samples for testing to designated or recognized testing laboratories. This will help shorten the time and reduce costs for businesses.

One of the notable points in administrative reform is the construction of a unified food safety management software system from central to local levels.

This will help management agencies carry out administrative procedures quickly and effectively, reduce backlogs and enhance transparency in management.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/nhung-kien-nghi-tu-cac-ong-lon-nganh-thuc-pham-nham-coi-troi-kinh-doanh-d256766.html