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April 6, 2020

New Regulations on Animal Feed and Aquafeed in Vietnam

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On March 9, 2020, Vietnam’s Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development (MARD) issued Circular No. 04/2020/TT-BNNPTNT (“Circular 4”) on National Technical Regulations on animal feed and raw materials for production of aquafeed. Circular 4 will take effect on July 1, 2020, and will have an impact on entities engaging in animal feed and aquafeed activities in Vietnam. Some of the major changes are set out below.

Safety Parameters

Circular 4 promulgates National Technical Regulation No. QCVN 01-190:2020/BNNPTNT which sets the maximum levels of undesirable substances for (i) traditional animal feed and raw materials for production of aquafeed as specified in Annex I; (ii) animal feed supplements as specified in Annex II; and (iii) compound animal feed and concentrated animal feed as specified in Annex III.

Conformity Declaration

Animal feed and raw materials for production of aquafeed must meet the safety requirements mentioned above. Before such products are circulated in the Vietnamese market, the manufacturers, importers, or distributors must proceed with the conformity declaration procedure to announce that their commercial animal feeds and raw materials for production of aquafeed conform to the above safety requirements.

Manufacturers, importers, or distributors must base their declaration of conformity on one of the following types of evidence: (1) results of their self-assessment of conformity; (2) certified results of the assessment of conformity by a certified organization registered or recognized by the MARD; or (3) certified results of the assessment of conformity by a certified organization designated by provisions of law. For animal feed supplements, it is required for manufacturers, importers, or distributors to base their declaration on the results of an assessment of conformity carried out by a certified organization designated by provisions of law.

Method of Conformity Assessment

In order to obtain results of the assessment of conformity, it is required to apply Mode 5 or Mode 7 prescribed in Circular No. 28/2012/TT-BKHCN of the Ministry of Science and Technology, as amended by Circular No. 02/2017/ TT-BKHCN.

Transitional Provisions

For imported animal feed and raw materials for production of aquafeed that have completed customs clearance before July 1, 2020, it is not required to conduct procedures for conformity declaration. For domestically manufactured animal feed and raw materials for production of aquafeed that have had their product information sent to, published by, or requested to be published by the MARD before July 1, 2020, the products can be circulated as normal until June 30, 2021. However, to continue manufacturing and circulating the products after that date, the manufacturers or distributors must complete the procedures for conformity declaration before July 1, 2021.

For more information on the regulations, please contact us at [email protected].

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