Draft amendments to the Law on Food Safety: Changing the way national food safety is managed in the new context

Current practice shows certain limitations in the current food safety management and supervision mechanism, especially the control from production, processing to circulation in the market. Recent incidents of contaminated food have raised big questions about the responsibility and management efficiency of state management agencies in controlling and supervising food safety.

Add the draft Law on Food Safety (amended) to the 2026 legislative program. Source: Government News

The Draft Amendment to the Law on Food Safety (the "Draft Amendment") is in the process of being developed and completed in order to overcome the inadequacies of the current management mechanism, strengthen the effectiveness of state management and prevent unsafe food from circulating in the consumer market.

1. Clarifying the "blurred spots" in food safety management activities

This draft amendment supplements and clarifies the definitions of "food processing aids" and "food additives" in Clauses 14 and 15, Article 2. These are substances that are used to aid in the processing of food ingredients but are not used as a characteristic ingredient of food, such as colorants, anti-foaming agents, gelatin used to aid in the coagulation process, cohesion, or some other substances. However, these substances are frequently added during processing to create the final product. Therefore, residues are still likely to exist in the final product, affecting the health of consumers somewhat.

On that basis, in the headings of Chapter III (conditions for ensuring safety and quality), Chapter IV (business establishments) and Chapter V (import and export), the phrase "food" is replaced by a phrase with a wider scope of regulation such as "food, food ingredients, food additives,  food processing aids". This way of expanding the scope contributes to overcoming legal gaps in the management of substances used in the processing process, strengthening the ability to prevent risks from other supporting additives, thereby ensuring food safety at the final stage of the finished product.

2. Changing the way food is managed based on classification by risk group

One of the outstanding new points in the Draft Amendment in management activities is the analysis and management by risk group. In particular, food, food ingredients, food additives, and food processing aids are classified into 03 risk groups, including:[1] (i) high risk, (ii) medium risk, and (iii) low risk. In principle, the criteria for determining risk groups will be stipulated by the Ministry of Health on the basis of proposals of relevant ministries and sectors. At the same time, other state agencies such as the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment are responsible for organizing and performing risk analysis. For the high-risk group, the control mechanism is applied more strictly than the other two risk groups, reflected in the frequency of inspection, control methods and other management contents.

Specifically, in Clause 1, Article 17 of the Draft Amendment, food production facilities that are assessed as high-risk need to meet strict standards such as Good Manufacturing Practices for Food and Food Ingredients (GMP), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems,  ISO food safety system, International Food Standard (IFS), International Food Standard (IFS), Global Standard for Food Safety (BRC), Food Safety System Certification (FSSC) or equivalent. In addition, these establishments must meet the area, location, preliminary processing area, and other factors according to current regulations. In addition, for production establishments in the high-risk group, the procedures for issuance of the Certificate of eligibility for food safety are applied instead of using the self-declaration mechanism of eligibility that is applied to small-scale production establishments or establishments in the low-risk group.[2] The components of the dossier and procedures for issuance, extension, change and supplementation will be guided in detail according to the Government's regulations in the coming time after the Draft Amendment is approved.

3. Strict control of imported food

Compared to current regulations, the Draft Amendment continues to apply the inspection method for food according to each level:[3] strict inspection, normal inspection, reduced inspection. In addition to inheriting the old regulations, many new recommendations are specifically proposed to strengthen the supervision of imported foods to different levels.[4]

Firstly, for the method of strict inspection, switch from the form of taking samples for testing but only checking the indicators that do not meet or have warnings of competent agencies to the form of sampling and testing all indicators according to the announced dossier and the indicators that do not meet the warnings or warnings of competent agencies rights.

Secondly, for the usual inspection method, it is changed from only considering dossiers to simultaneously applying measures including checking dossiers, physical inspection of goods and taking samples to test food quality and safety indicators selected from groups of indicators declared in the dossier.

Thirdly, for the method of reduced inspection, switch from only inspecting dossiers at the rate of up to 5% of the total number of imported goods lots within 01 year to fully inspecting 100% of imported goods.

The above proposed amendment shows the trend of tightening food safety inspection for imported goods, contributing to increasing transparency and consistency in the application of the law. This is a necessary approach to ensure the health and safety of consumers but at the same time increases the burden of administrative procedures and the time to bring imported products to the consumer market for businesses.

Strengthen management and ensure food safety. Source: Government News

4. Specifying the form of packaging labels 

Packaging labels affixed to products are considered mandatory requirements before being circulated in the Vietnamese market. The labeling will be carried out in accordance with the law on goods labeling. In addition, within the scope of the Draft, the new regulation supplements specific requirements that packaging labels must be printed in the form of barcodes, QR codes, DataMatrix codes or other forms on the basis of socio-economic conditions in each period.[5]

Through this, the management agency can easily access the management and traceability of food and food ingredients when violations are detected. A number of current regulations related to the law on product and goods quality have encouraged individuals and businesses to implement the application of codes and barcodes in quality and origin management.[6] This is a premise for state agencies to gradually build a digital platform for the management of national quality infrastructure, and at the same time enhance transparency and safety in the circulation and consumption of goods and food, thereby contributing to ensuring food safety and protecting public health. Along with that, the above additional step is synchronized with relevant regulations to ensure the uniformity of the legal system managing quality, safety and control of counterfeit goods.[7] This requirement of the management agency is an important indicator of tightening compliance activities of enterprises in the production and circulation of Vietnamese food in the coming time.

5. Empowering local governments to manage food

State management in food issues is always an existential challenge when facing complexity and diversity from fresh food for daily consumption, canned processed foods to functional foods and imported foods. Practice shows that the management system is still "confused" with responsibility when an incident occurs.[8] Specifically, the prevention and control of counterfeit food and trade fraud in food circulation and trading is assigned to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to assume the prime responsibility without stipulating coordination or participation from other ministries. In addition, the division of management is based on different industries and items, so each agency in charge will be different and there is no consensus, the main responsibility for affecting the interests of consumers. This is a point that is still being considered by the Government. Because the regulations on state management responsibilities still need to be further considered and agreed to create the highest efficiency in the actual implementation process. One of the proposed options is the plan to decentralize responsibilities for provincial-level People's Committees in exercising the right to manage food safety in their localities, and at the same time decentralize specific powers to each ministry. The scope of work delegated by each ministry must be associated with the request for coordination with the Ministry of Health so that this agency can promptly capture information, come up with a handling plan and report to the Government.

In summary, the Draft Amendment to the Law on Food Safety has basically completed a number of important issues such as approaching management based on risk classification, tightening control of imported food, strengthening requirements for traceability through packaging labels, and moving towards decentralization,  decentralize authority more clearly to local governments. However, many challenges are posed in the process of implementing state management activities in the locality, accompanied by the emergence of additional administrative procedures necessary for enterprises. Therefore, in the coming time, the Draft Amendment will need to be further reviewed and completed on the basis of comments and evaluations of experts and specialized agencies to ensure a balance between the goal of protecting the health of consumers and the requirements of creating a favorable business environment.  transparency for businesses.