Vietnam: Procedures for voluntary recall of unsafe foods

According to Article 4 of Circular No. 23/2018/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health of Vietnam, procedures for voluntary recall are as follows:

- Within 24 hours after the discovery or receipt of feedback about safety issues of products and it is concluded that the products have to be recalled, the product owner shall:

+ Notify the recall by telephone, email or in other appropriate forms, and then give written notification to all members of the production and distribution system (including factories, distributors, agencies and stores) in order to request them to suspend the production and distribution of products as well as carry out the recall of products;

+ Give written notification to provincial mass media agencies and other relevant authorities and organizations as regulated by the soft law on protection of consumer rights; If the recall involves two provinces or more, central mass media agencies must be notified in writing in order to publish such recall to consumers;

+ Give written notification of the recall to food safety authorities;

+ When giving written notification of the recall, the product owner must specify name and address of the product owner and of the manufacturer, product’s name, packaging specifications, batch number, date of manufacture, expiration date, quantity, reasons for recall, list of locations receiving recalled products, and recall duration.

- Within 03 days from the completion of the recall, the product owner must submit a report on the recall of products, which also includes measures for disposal of recalled products, to food safety authorities according to the Form No. 01 enclosed with Circular No. 23/2018/TT-BYT.

Besides, Circular No. 23/2018/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health of Vietnam also stipulates procedures for mandatory recall as follows:

- Within 24 hours after it is concluded that the products are subject to the mandatory recall, the authority that has the power to issue a recall decision shall issue a recall decision made according to the form provided in the Appendix 02 enclosed herewith.

- Upon the receipt of the recall decision, the product owner must carry out the procedures specified in Clause 1 Article 4 hereof.

- Within 03 days from the completion of the recall, the product owner must submit a report on the recall of products, which also includes measures for disposal of recalled products, to the authority issuing the recall decision according to the Form No. 01 enclosed herewith.

- After issuing a recall decision, authorities competent to impose penalties for administrative violations against regulations on food safety must supervise the recall of products and notify food safety authorities and relevant authorities for cooperation.

Mandatory recall is a recall of disqualified products carried out by product owners following the issuance of a mandatory recall decision by:

- The competent authority that receives their self-declaration documents or issues the certificate of registered product declaration as regulated in Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP of Vietnam’s Government; or

- The authority competent to impose penalties for administrative violations against regulations on food safety as regulated by laws.

View details at Circular No. 23/2018/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health of Vietnam, effective from November 01, 2018.

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