Is the year of manufacture on the label abbreviated? What are regulations on origins of goods?
What are presentation of goods labels?
Pursuant to Clause 1, Clause 2 Article 3 of Decree 43/2017/ND-CP of Vietnam:
- Label means any manuscript, printed copy, drawing, photocopy of words, pictures, images that is stuck, printed, attached to, casted, or carved, a container of goods or on other kinds of materials to be attached to the goods or commercial container;
- Presentation of goods labels means presenting essential information on a label about its contents so as to enable consumers to identify the good, give suitable selection, consume, and use; to enable manufacturers and traders to advertise the good; and to enable regulatory agencies to carry out the inspection and supervision.
Who are responsible for labeling?
Pursuant to Article 9 of Decree 43/2017/ND-CP of Vietnam and Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree 111/2021/ND-CP of Vietnam coming force into from February 15, 2022 on responsibility for labeling:
- The entity responsible for labeling shall, including supplementary label, shall ensure that the labeling is made truthful, clear, precise and correctly reflect the substance of the goods.
- For goods manufactured for domestic circulation, the manufacturer shall be responsible for labeling.
The entity responsible for labeling shall keep assuming responsibility without regard to an authorization of labeling to another entity.
- In case goods are not eligible for export and are returned for circulation in the country, organizations and individuals shall, before putting such goods into circulation, label them in accordance with the provisions of this Decree.
- Organizations and individuals that import goods into Vietnam shall include the mandatory information on the labels of imported goods prescribed in this Decree.
What are the date of manufacture and expiry date?
Pursuant to Article 14 of Decree 43/2017/ND-CP of Vietnam on date of manufacture, expiry date
- Date of manufacture, expiry date shall be written in the "dd-mm-yy(yy)" format (according to solar calendar). If it is presented in another order, such date must be noted in Vietnamese.
Each number indicating the date, month, and year shall be written in two digits, the number indicating the year may particularly be written in four digits. The number indicating date, month, and year of a point of time shall be presented in the same line.
Month of manufacture, if required, shall be written in the “mm-yy(yy)” format (according to solar calendar).
Year of manufacture, if required, shall be written in the “yyyy” format (according to solar calendar).
“date of manufacture", “expiry date” shall be fully presented or abbreviated in capital letters as follows: ”NSX", “HSD” or “HD" (“MFG” or “EXP”).
- If the date of manufacture and expiry date must be presented as prescribed in Appendix I of this Decree while the date of manufacture has been printed on the label as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, the permitted expiry date is the period of time beginning from the date of manufacture and otherwise the expiry date has been printed on the label, the permitted date of manufacture is the period of time before the expiry date.
- If the good has been portioned, extracted, refilled, or repacked, the respective date must be presented and the expiry date shall begin from the date of manufacture and be shown on the original label.
- The presentation of date of manufacture and expiry date shall be specified in Section 1 Appendix III of this Decree.
The goods that are presented in the manners other than those prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article shall be consistent with Section 2 Appendix III of this Decree.
Thus, you’re not allow to abbreviate the year of manufacture, you can write “manufactured in…” or “year of manufacture…”.
Origins of goods
What are regulations on origins of goods?
Pursuant to Article 15 of Decree 43/2017/ND-CP of Vietnam (amended Clause 7 Article 1 of Decree 111/2021/ND-CP of Vietnam coming force into from February 15, 2022) on origins of goods:
- Manufacturers, exporters and importers shall determine and write on the labels the origins of goods truthfully, accurately, and conformably with law on origin of goods exported, imported and manufactured in Vietnam or international commitments to which Vietnam has acceded.
- Origin of goods on the label shall be expressed as: “sản xuất tại” ("made in"); “chế tạo tại” ("manufactured in"); “nước sản xuất” ("country of origin"); “xuất xứ” ("country"); “sản xuất bởi” ("manufactured by"); “sản phẩm của” ("product of") followed by the country’s name or region in which the goods are produced or presented in accordance with the regulations of the Law on origin of goods.
- In case of unknown origin of goods in accordance with the regulations in Clause 1 of this Article, write the country in which the last stage of finishing the goods is performed. It shall be presented by one of the phrases or a combination of phrases in order to present the finishing stage of goods as follows: "lắp ráp tại”; “đóng chai tại”; “phối trộn tại”; “hoàn tất tại”; “đóng gói tại”; “dán nhãn tại” (“assembled in”, “bottled in”, “blended in”, “completed in”, “packed in”, “labeled in”) followed by the country's name or region in which the last stage of finishing the goods is performed.
- The country’s name or region in which the good is produced or from which the last stage of finishing the goods is performed shall not be abbreviated forms.
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