Vietnam: Administrative penalties for violations against fertilizer trading regulations

Decree No. 55/2018/ND-CP of Vietnam’s Government specifies administrative penalties for violations against fertilizer trading regulations, which will vary depending on the level of violation. To be specific:

The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 1,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following violations:

- Failing to maintain conformity with fertilizer trading requirements as regulated during the business period;

- Keeping or storing fertilizers in the same place as or together with other commodities such as foods and beverages, animal feeds, pharmaceuticals and veterinary drugs;

- Trading fertilizers during the period of research, test, or in pilot manufacturing projects without obtaining the Decision on marketing authorization in Vietnam.

The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 7,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following violations:

- At one’s free will, marking, erasing, correcting or changing information displayed on the Certificate of conformity with fertilizer trading requirements;

- Trading fertilizers even when such trading activity has been subject to the suspension decision, or the Certificate of conformity with fertilizer trading requirements has expired or withdrawn;

- Trading fertilizers with the Decision on marketing authorization in Vietnam which has been revoked.

The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 7,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed for trading fertilizers without obtaining the Certificate of conformity with fertilizer trading requirements.

The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 10,000,000 to VND 15,000,000 shall be imposed for trading of fertilizers containing factors in excess of the permitted maximum limit.

Trading fertilizers without obtaining the Decision on marketing authorization in Vietnam or trading fertilizers which have expired shall be subject to the following penalties:

- Warning shall be imposed if violating fertilizers are worth less than VND 1,000,000;

- The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 500,000 to VND 1,000,000 shall be imposed for trading a batch of fertilizers worth from VND 1,000,000 to VND 2,000,000;

- The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 1,000,000 to VND 2,000,000 shall be imposed for trading a batch of fertilizers worth from VND 2,000,000 to less than VND 3,000,000;

- The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 2,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed for trading a batch of fertilizers worth from VND 3,000,000 to less than VND 5,000,000;

- The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 4,000,000 to VND 6,000,000 shall be imposed for trading a batch of fertilizers worth from VND 5,000,000 to less than VND 7,000,000;

- The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 6,000,000 to VND 7,000,000 shall be imposed for trading a batch of fertilizers worth from VND 7,000,000 to less than VND 10.000.000;

- The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 8,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed for trading a batch of fertilizers worth from VND 10,000,000 to less than VND 15,000,000;

- The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 10,000,000 to VND 15,000,000 shall be imposed for trading a batch of fertilizers worth from VND 15,000,000 to less than VND 25,000,000;

- The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 15,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for trading a batch of fertilizers worth from VND 25,000,000 to less than VND 35,000,000;

- The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 25,000,000 to VND 35,000,000 shall be imposed for trading a batch of fertilizers worth from VND 35,000,000 to less than VND 50,000,000;

- The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 40,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed for trading a batch of fertilizers worth from VND 50,000,000 to less than VND 70,000,000;

- The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 50,000,000 to VND 60,000,000 shall be imposed for trading a batch of fertilizers worth from VND 70,000,000 to less than VND 100,000,000;

- The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 60,000,000 to VND 70,000,000 shall be imposed for trading a batch of fertilizers worth from VND 100.000.000 to less than VND 150,000,000;

- The amount of monetary penalty ranging from VND 70,000,000 to VND 80,000,000 shall be imposed for trading a batch of fertilizers worth from VND 150,000,000 to less than VND 200,000,000;

With respect to trading fertilizers without obtaining the Decision on authorization of marketing of fertilizers in Vietnam to the minimum value of VND 200,000,000, the person accorded authority over this case shall promptly send documentation related to this violation to a criminal procedures authority to initiate criminal prosecution process under Article 62 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations; if the criminal procedures authority decides not to bring a criminal lawsuit, decides to suspend the investigation process or decides to terminate the prosecution process, and such trading activity is proved to be an administrative violation, the amount of monetary penalty for that violation shall range from VND 90,000,000 to VND 100,000,000.

Additional penalties

- Depriving of the right to use the Certificate of conformity with fertilizer trading requirements or suspension of fertilizer trading activities for the period from 01 to 03 months shall be imposed for any violation for which the amount of monetary penalty ranges from VND 15,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 and violation for which the amount of monetary penalty ranges from VND 25,000,000 to VND 35,000,000 that is committed in multiple times or repeated;

- Depriving of the right to use the Certificate of conformity with fertilizer trading requirements or suspension of fertilizer trading activities for the period from 03 to 06 months shall be imposed for any violation for which the amount of monetary penalty ranges from VND 40,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 and violation for which the amount of monetary penalty ranges from VND 50,000,000 to VND 60,000,000 that is committed in multiple times or repeated;

- Depriving of the right to use the Certificate of conformity with fertilizer trading requirements or suspension of fertilizer trading activities for the period from 06 to 09 months shall be imposed for any violation for which the amount of monetary penalty ranges from VND 60,000,000 to VND 70,000,000 and Point n Clause 6 of this Article which is committed in multiple times or repeated;

- Depriving of the right to use the Certificate of conformity with fertilizer trading requirements or suspension of fertilizer trading activities for the period from 09 to 12 months shall be imposed for any violation for which the amount of monetary penalty ranges from VND 70,000,000 to VND 80,000,000;

- Depriving of the right to use the Certificate of conformity with fertilizer trading requirements or suspension of fertilizer trading activities for the period from 12 to 15 months shall be imposed for any violation for which the amount of monetary penalty ranges from VND 90,000,000 to VND 100,000,000;

- Suspension of fertilizer trading activities for the period from 03 to 09 months shall be imposed for trading fertilizers without obtaining the Certificate of conformity with fertilizer trading requirements;

- Seizure of the Certificate of conformity with fertilizer trading requirements shall be imposed for marking, erasing, correcting or changing information displayed on the Certificate of conformity with fertilizer trading requirements.

Remedial measures

Depending on the nature of the violation, there will be different remedial measures, including:

- Forcibly recall expired fertilizers which are then returned to manufacturers;

- Forcibly destroy, reprocess fertilizers without obtaining the Decision on marketing authorization in Vietnam or convert them into input materials intended for manufacturing of finished fertilizer products;

- Forcibly recall fertilizers which are then subject to destruction.

More details can be found in Decree No. 55/2018/ND-CP of Vietnam’s Government, which takes effect from April 16, 2018.

-Thao Uyen-

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE