Regulations on chemical declaration according to Vietnamese law

Do organizations and individuals importing chemicals need to declare? Does importing declared chemicals need to be declared a second time?

1. What do organizations and individuals need to declare when declaring imported chemicals?

Pursuant to Article 43 of the Chemical Law 2007, regulations on chemical declaration are as follows:

“Article 43. Chemical declaration

1. Organizations and individuals importing chemicals must declare chemicals to the Ministry of Industry and Trade; Organizations and individuals producing chemicals must declare chemicals to the specialized agency managing chemical activities of the Provincial People’s Committee.

2. Contents of chemical declaration include:

a) Name and address of organization or individual producing or importing chemicals;

b) Name, quantity and origin of the chemical.

3. Every year, the specialized agency managing chemical activities of the Provincial People’s Committee is responsible for reporting to the Ministry of Industry and Trade on chemical declaration information in the locality.

4. The Government regulates the List of chemicals that must be declared. The Ministry of Industry and Trade regulates the chemical declaration form specified in this Article.”

2. Do organizations and individuals importing chemicals need to declare?

According to Article 28 of Decree 113/2017/ND-CP stipulating cases of exemption from declaration of imported chemicals as follows:

“Article 28. Cases of exemption from declaration

1. Chemicals are produced and imported to serve security, national defense, and respond to natural disasters and emergency epidemics.

2. Chemicals are drug precursors, explosive precursors, industrial explosives and table chemicals that have been licensed for production and import.

3. Imported chemicals are less than 10 kg per import. The exemptions mentioned in this point do not apply to chemicals restricted from production and trading in the industrial sector.

4. Chemicals are raw materials for drug production that have a Certificate of registration for drug circulation in Vietnam, raw materials for drug production are pharmaceutical substances for production according to drug registration dossiers that already have a Certificate of registration for drug circulation in Vietnam.

5. Chemicals are raw materials for the production of pesticides that have a Certificate of pesticide registration in Vietnam.”

3. Does import of declared chemicals need to be declared a second time?

Pursuant to Article 27 of Decree 113/2017/ND-CP stipulating import declaration as follows:

“Article 27. Declaration of imported chemicals

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2. Create an account to access the National One-Stop Information Portal

a) Organizations and individuals create login accounts according to the prescribed form on the National Single Window Information Portal, including information and attached files;

b) In case it is necessary to clarify or confirm information, the agency receiving the declared information requires organizations and individuals to submit documents and vouchers specified in Point a of this Clause in hard copy.

3. Information on declaration of imported chemicals

a) Information declared according to the form specified in Appendix VI of this Decree on the National Single Window Portal includes information about organizations and individuals declaring, and information about imported chemicals;

b) Chemical purchase and sale invoices;

c) Chemical safety card in Vietnamese;

d) In case of non-commercial goods, there is no chemical purchase or sale invoice, organizations and individuals declaring chemicals can use a port goods receipt instead of a commercial invoice.

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5. In case system problems arise

In case a system problem occurs, organizations and individuals cannot declare through the National Single Window Information Portal. While waiting for the problem to be resolved, organizations and individuals can declare imported chemicals through the backup system prescribed by the agency receiving declaration information.

From the above regulations, in case the chemicals have been previously declared at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, organizations and individuals importing dangerous chemicals do not have to resubmit the Chemical Safety Certificate when the chemical composition remains unchanged (for direct declaration and for dangerous chemicals).

In cases where organizations and individuals do not have chemical purchase and sale invoices, the application for issuance of the Certificate must include You can submit a chemical purchase contract and expected invoice. The official chemical purchase and sale invoice with the seal and signature of the business leader is submitted at the time of receiving the Confirmation.

For chemical purchase and sale contracts used for multiple imports, from the import of the next batch of goods under the contract, the organization or individual is responsible for submitting the official chemical purchase and sale invoice with the business leader’s stamp and signature and a photocopy of the Confirmation of the first batch of goods under the same contract.

In short, re-importing previously declared chemicals must still be carried out, there are no regulations on exemption from declaration for previously declared chemicals.