Vietnam: A fine ranging from 1 to 3 million for drug retailing without professional qualifications

Vietnam: A fine ranging from 1 to 3 million for drug retailing without professional qualifications (Illustrative photo)

According to Clause 1, Article 59 of Decree 117/2020/ND-CP, a fine ranging from VND 1.000.000 VND 3.000.000 shall be imposed for commission of one of the following violations in Vietnam:

- Failing to meet quality standards as prescribed by competent authorities when selling herbal ingredients which have been preliminarily processed;

- A pharmacist who directly engages in the drug retailing fails to possess a professional qualifications as prescribed by law;

- Failing to use records or computers for managing the warehousing, dispatching, inventory, batch number, expiry date, origin of drugs and other relevant information as prescribed by law;

- Trading drug in violation of quality regulations at level 3;

- Failing to specify the drug name, content and expiry date when retailing drugs without secondary packages; failing to specify the dose and usage when selling drugs without a prescription;

- Failing to retain all documents about each batch/shipment of drugs/ medicinal ingredients for a period prescribed by law;

- Failing to cooperate or obstructing the quality inspection agency in taking samples of drugs or medicinal ingredients to serve quality inspection tasks.

Additionally, a fine ranging from VND 3.000.000 to VND 5.000.000 shall be imposed for commission of one of the following violations in Vietnam:

- Relocating the drug retailer’s premises at the same business location or expanding the premises or making major repairs or changes in structure of the premises without submitting a report on such changes, accompanied by relevant technical documents as prescribed by law;

- Failing to provide a separate area for displaying products other than drugs or failing to put a notice indicating that "sản phẩm này không phải là thuốc" (“This is not a drug”) at the separate area for cosmetics, functional foods and medical devices as prescribed by law;

- Trading drug in violation of quality regulations at level 2.

More details can be found in Decree 117/2020/ND-CP effective from November 15, 2020.

Thuy Tram

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE