General principles of pesticide product registration in Vietnam

General principles of pesticide product registration in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. What are pesticides?

According to Clause 16, Article 3 of the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine 2013, a pesticide means the substance or any mixture of substances or the microbiological agent which is meant for preventing, inhibiting, repelling, seducing, destroying or mitigating the harmful impact of plant pests, pathogens and diseases; regulating or controlling the growth of plants or insects; serving the purpose of plant storage; increasing the safety and efficacy for the use of various plant protection products.

2. General principles of pesticide product registration in Vietnam

The general principles of pesticide product registration in Vietnam include:

(1) All of pesticide products used for deterring or killing organisms harmful to plants, regulating the growth of plants, storing plants, disinfecting warehouses, killing termites causing damage to architectural structures, dykes or embankments; killing weeds on uncultivated lands; increasing their safe and effective use (specific commercial names also defined), must be registered into the comprehensive list of plant protection products permitted in Vietnam (hereinafter referred to as the list).

(2) Domestic or foreign organizations or individuals (including their representative offices, companies, branches licensed to carry out pesticide product business operations in Vietnam) manufacturing pesticide active ingredients (hereinafter referred to as active ingredient), technical pesticide products (hereinafter referred to as technical pesticide)

Or Formulated pesticide products made from technical pesticides (hereinafter referred to as Formulated pesticide product) shall be allowed to directly use their names to apply for the pesticide product registration manufactured at their own expenses.

(3) Organizations or individuals manufacturing active ingredients, technical pesticides or Formulated pesticide products that do not directly use their names to apply for such registration shall be permitted to authorize only one eligible organization or individual stipulated in Clause 3 Article 50 of the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine 2013 to bear its name on the registration of each of their own pesticide products.

(4) The authorized organization or individual as mentioned above shall be allowed to act on behalf of only one manufacturer of active ingredients, technical pesticides or Formulated pesticide products to apply for the registration of specific active ingredients, technical pesticides or formulated pesticide products.

(5)  Registration certificate holder:

(i) Be entitled to register 01 commercial name for each active ingredient, technical pesticide or Formulated pesticide product used for deterring or killing harmful organisms or regulating the growth of plants.

If these active ingredients, technical pesticides or Formulated pesticide products are used to disinfect warehouses or storage facilities, store plants, kill termites causing damage to buildings, dykes or embankments, or treat seeds, they are subject to another commercial name registration;

(ii)  Only register 01 specified content of active ingredient used for each formulation of a pesticide product;

(iii) T Have the right to carry out the transfer of commercial names. This transfer shall be governed under the provisions of (2), (3), (4) and (i), (ii);

(iv) Avoid any change made to commercial names of pesticide products defined in the List, except when a competent intellectual property authority or a court judge in writing that such names have breached regulations on commodity labels;

(v) Be allowed to change the manufacturer’s name written on the registration certificate of pesticide products if that manufacturer ceases to provide products, or the manufacturer and the authorized organization or individual give the written mutual consent to authorization termination.

(6) Only after 05 years from the official grant of the initial registration certificate of pesticide products containing active ingredients which have not been specified in the List, other organizations or individuals shall be allowed to apply for additional registration of new commercial names for pesticide products containing such active ingredients.

(7) Administration of pesticide products formulated by ingredients being a combination of chemical and biological substances shall be the same as that of chemical products.

(Article 5 of Circular 21/2015/TT-BNNPTNT)

Thanh Rin

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