Vietnam: Unsafe agricultural and forest food must be recalled

According to Article 8 of the Circular No. 74/2011/TT-BNNPTNT of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, recall of agricultural and forest food is prescribed as follows:

1. An establishment provided in Article 2 of this Circular shall recall a lot of delivery in compliance with the requirements provided in Section 4 of the Appendix to this Circular.

2. Forms of recall of unsafe agricultural and forest food:

- Voluntary recall by the establishment;

- Compulsory recall at the request of an inspection agency.

3. An establishment shall recall unsafe food at the request of an inspection agency when:

- The food is still placed on the market after its expiry date.

- The food fails to comply with relevant technical regulations, being harmful to consumer health.

- The food is the product of a new technology which has not been licensed for application.

- The food is spoiled in the course of preservation, transportation or trading, becoming unsafe to consumer health.

- The food contains a banned substance or a contaminating agent in excess of the prescribed limit.

Concurrently, according to Article 9 of the Circular No. 74/2011/TT-BNNPTNT of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, forms of handling of violations of food safety regulations are as follows:

- Remedy of labeling fault; To be applied to improperly labeled food.

- Change of use purpose: To be applied to food after its expiry date which is no longer suitable to its original use purpose but remains safe.

- Re-export: To be applied to cases of import of unsafe food; import of food after its expiry date; and import of unlicensed food into Vietnam under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's current regulations.

- Destruction: To be applied to degenerated, stale or rotten food; food containing additives or processing aids in excess of prescribed limit; food containing harmful substances or contaminated with banned toxics or chemicals of unknown origin; and food of unknown origin.

Note: Destruction of unsafe agricultural and forest food must comply with law and be examined and certified by food safety inspection agencies or local administrations.

View details at Circular No. 74/2011/TT-BNNPTNT of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, effective from December 15, 2011.

Thuy Tram

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