Date of Issue: 17 August 2010
Date of Issue: 17 August 2010
Date of Effect: IMMEDIATE
Country: Vietnam
In May 2010, Australia received advice, through the Australian Embassy in Hanoi, that Vietnam had released new import regulations for imports of food products derived from animals, including meat, seafood and dairy (Circular No 25/2010/TT-BNNPTNT - ‘Circular 25’). Initially, the new regulations were scheduled to be implemented on 1 July 2010. Following representations by Australia and a number of other trading partners, Vietnam postponed implementation of the regulations until 1 September 2010.
Circular 25 requirements apply to raw animal products that have not been transformed. Vietnam had advised that all meat and offal under Harmonised System (HS) Chapter 2, and all fish (including processed fish) must meet the requirements of Circular 25. For dairy products, Vietnam has advised that milk under HS0401(milk and cream, not concentrated or sweetened) must meet Circular 25 requirements, but processed dairy products under HS 0402 - 0406 are exempt.
Despite the best efforts of the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) to negotiate a systems recognition that would simplify compliance with Circular 25 requirements, Vietnam has advised that individual Australian processing establishments must meet requirements of Circular 25.
Circular 25 includes the requirement for individual processing establishments to be approved and registered by Vietnam to be eligible to export.
To register, establishments must:
- submit a completed questionnaire
- be inspected by Vietnam.
At this stage, AQIS understands that Vietnam will not inspect establishments prior to granting approval. However, Vietnam has confirmed that questionnaires will need to be submitted and they will need to be presented via the competent authority in the exporting country. AQIS will manage this through the Australian Embassy in Hanoi.
To help export establishments in meeting the requirements of Circular 25, AQIS has pre-populated the questionnaire with general information about Australia’s national animal and food safety systems. The pre-populated questionnaire is attached. Please do not change the national information already provided. Please enter your company specific information under relevant headings.
To allow Vietnam time to assess completed questionnaires, AQIS would appreciate receiving the completed questionnaires of establishments intending to export to Vietnam after 31 August 2010 by Monday 23 August 2010. However, please be advised that while AQIS will, on a daily basis, submit completed questionnaires to Vietnam as a matter of priority, Vietnam has not indicated what their approval process will be and they may not finalise their approvals before 31 August 2010 regardless of the submission date. AQIS will advise establishments of approval as advice from Vietnam is received.
If you wish to export to Vietnam, please complete the attached document as soon as possible and send to:
Email: Fish Exports
Please do not fax your completed questionnaires.
AQIS will work to minimise any impacts on trade resulting from the implementation of Circular 25 on 1 September 2010. However, exporters should note that existing trade with Vietnam may be disrupted following introduction of these new regulations.
Lynda Feazey
Export Standards Branch
The information provided above is current at the time of writing and is intended for use as guidance only and should not be taken as definitive or exhaustive. The Commonwealth endeavours to keep information current and accurate, however, it may be subject to change without notice. Exporters are encouraged to verify these details with their importers prior to undertaking production/exports. The Commonwealth will not accept liability for any loss resulting from reliance on information contained in this notice.