Decree No. 103/2010/NĐ-CP provides detailed regulations on implementation of certain articles of the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases concerning health quarantine at border gates.

DECREE

These regulations provide detailed implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases concerning border health quarantine.

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THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Based on the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases dated November 21, 2007;

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Health,

DECREE:

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Decree stipulates the declaration of health status, health inspection, and health treatment for persons, conveyances entering, exiting, or transiting Vietnam, imported and exported goods, corpses, remains, ashes, medical microbiological samples, biological products, human tissues, and organs transported across the Vietnamese border; disease surveillance in border areas; organization of border health quarantine and responsibilities in implementing border health quarantine.

Article 2. Interpretation of Terms

In this Decree, the following terms are understood as follows:

1. Shipper is the owner of goods or the person authorized to be responsible for goods when importing, exporting, or transiting through a border gate.

2. Owner of conveyance is the owner of the conveyance, the manager, lessee, operator of the conveyance, or the person authorized to be responsible for the conveyance when entering, exiting, or transiting through a border gate.

3. Health Treatment Certificate is a document confirming that health treatment measures have been applied by the border health quarantine organization, including certificates regarding: international vaccination or preventive measures; health inspection and treatment of goods and conveyances; exemption or sanitation of ships; health quarantine of corpses, remains, ashes; health quarantine of medical microbiological samples, biological products, human tissues, and organs.

4. Goods are tangible products capable of carrying pathogens or vectors of infectious diseases, imported, exported, or transiting through a border gate, including postal items, luggage, consumer goods on conveyances.

5. Luggage is personal belongings necessary for individual living needs or for the purpose of travel, including carry-on luggage, pre-checked or post-checked luggage.

6. Border Gate Area is the place where passengers, conveyances, and goods enter, exit, import, export, and transit; it is also the place where corpses, remains, ashes, medical microbiological samples, biological products, human tissues, and organs are transported across the Vietnamese border, and provides services to passengers, conveyance owners, and cargo owners according to the regulations of competent state agencies.

7. Health Quarantine Officer is the person who performs border health quarantine activities.

Chapter II

CONTENTS OF BORDER HEALTH QUARANTINE

PART I

HEALTH QUARANTINE FOR PERSONS

Article 3. Declaration of health status for persons

Persons entering, exiting, or transiting must declare their health status in accordance with the regulations of the Minister of Health.

Article 4. Health inspection for persons

1. Inspect the declaration of health status of persons entering, exiting, or transiting as prescribed in Article 3 of this Decree.

2. Conduct actual inspections for persons entering, exiting, or transiting from regions with outbreaks or suspected of having infectious diseases or carrying pathogens:

a) Observing physical condition;

b) Measure body temperature;

c) Conduct clinical examination for individuals suspected of having infectious diseases or carrying pathogens;

d) Collect samples for testing if there is suspicion of infectious pathogens.

3. The actual inspection of one person must be completed within a maximum of two working hours counted from the time the health declaration inspection for that person is completed.

If the person being inspected requires health treatment, such treatment shall be carried out in accordance with Article 5 of this Decree. If the person being inspected does not require health treatment or the actual inspection period has expired, the border health quarantine organization must notify the border gate authority to process entry, exit, or transit procedures for that person.

Article 5. Medical treatment for individuals

1. For individuals carrying or showing signs of carrying infectious disease pathogens in Group A, the following medical measures shall be implemented:

a) Isolation;

b) Use of vaccines, medical products, disinfection, decontamination, and preventive measures;

c) Diagnosis and treatment.

2. For subjects specified in Clause 2, Article 4 of this Decree who do not have an international vaccination certificate or who apply preventive measures according to Model 1 of Appendix I issued together with this Decree, the border health quarantine organization shall implement vaccination or apply preventive measures.

3. The application of medical measures as prescribed in Point b and Point c of Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article must be completed within a maximum time of 01 hour for each individual subject to medical measures from the moment they are detected.

4. After completing medical treatment, the border health quarantine organization shall issue an international vaccination certificate or apply preventive measures according to the model prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

5. The border health quarantine organization shall prepare a list of individuals who have been in contact with the subjects specified in Clause 1 of this Article and send it to relevant units as prescribed by the Ministry of Health, and request such individuals to go to the nearest healthcare facility for guidance on disease prevention measures and health monitoring.

PART II

HEALTH QUARANTINE FOR TRANSPORT MEANS

Article 6. Health declaration for transport means

1. The owner of the transport means must declare health information for the transport means upon entry, exit, or transit.

2. For aircraft:

a) Declare health information according to Model 2 of Appendix I issued together with this Decree when the aircraft is parked;

b) In case passengers or crew members on the flight show symptoms or signs of infectious diseases as stipulated in Model 2 of this clause, the captain or chief steward must communicate via radio to the border health quarantine organization at the port before the aircraft lands.

3. For ships:

a) Declare health information according to Model 3 of Appendix I issued together with this Decree at least 02 hours before the ship arrives at the pilot station;

b) In case passengers or crew members on the ship show symptoms or signs of infectious diseases as stipulated in Model 3 of this clause, the ship captain or authorized officer on board must communicate via radio to the border health quarantine organization at the port before the ship docks; hoist the border health quarantine signal as prescribed in Article 9 of this Decree.

4. For road and rail transport means:

In case the transport means departs from or passes through an epidemic area or carries people or goods suspected of carrying infectious disease pathogens, the owner of the transport means must declare health information according to Model 4 of Appendix I issued together with this Decree when the transport means enters the port area.

Article 7. Health inspection for transport means

1. Inspection of declaration forms

a) For aircraft, inspect the health declaration form as prescribed in Point a and the information as prescribed in Point b of Clause 2, Article 6 of this Decree;

b) For ships, inspect the health declaration form as prescribed in Point a and the information as prescribed in Point b of Clause 3, Article 6 of this Decree;

c) For road and rail transport means, inspect the health declaration form as prescribed in Clause 4, Article 6 of this Decree.

2. On-site inspection

a) The following transport means must undergo on-site inspection:

- Transport means departing from or passing through an epidemic area or suspected of carrying infectious disease pathogens.

- Transport means carrying people or goods departing from or passing through an epidemic area or suspected of being infected or carrying infectious disease pathogens.

b) Procedure for on-site inspection:

- Assess the general hygiene condition, intermediate transmission factors, or infectious disease pathogens on the transport means.

- Take samples for testing in case there is suspicion of infectious disease pathogens on the transport means.

3. The on-site inspection for one transport means must be completed within a maximum time of 01 working hour counted from the completion of the health declaration inspection for that transport means.

If the transport means under inspection requires medical treatment, the medical treatment shall be carried out according to the provisions of Article 8 of this Decree. If the transport means under inspection does not require medical treatment or has exceeded the on-site inspection time, the border health quarantine organization shall issue a health inspection certificate for road and rail transport means, and air transport means according to Model 5 of Appendix I issued together with this Decree; issue a certificate exempting from sanitary treatment for ships according to Model 6 of Appendix I issued together with this Decree, and notify the port authority to process entry, exit, or transit procedures for that transport means.

Article 8. Medical treatment for conveyances

1. Conveyances must be subject to medical treatment before entry, exit, or transit:

a) Conveyances departing from or passing through areas with infectious diseases in Group A that have not been medically treated;

b) Conveyances or persons, goods on conveyances carrying or showing signs of carrying infectious disease pathogens in Group A;

c) Ships without a certificate of exemption or having undergone ship sanitation treatment.

2. Medical treatment measures:

a) For conveyances:

- Eradication of disease-causing agents and disease-transmitting intermediaries.

- Removal and destruction of solid waste, human or animal excreta; treatment of sewage and ballast water.

b) For persons on conveyances, medical treatment shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 5 of this Decree;

c) For goods on conveyances, medical treatment shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 14 of this Decree.

3. After medical treatment, the border quarantine organization confirms the completion of medical treatment and issues:

a) A medical treatment certificate for road, rail, and aircraft conveyances according to Model 5 specified in Clause 3, Article 7 of this Decree;

b) A sanitation certificate for ships according to Model 6 specified in Clause 3, Article 7 of this Decree.

4. The application of medical treatment measures as stipulated in point a, Clause 2 of this Article must be completed within a maximum time of 01 working hour for each road conveyance, each railway car, or each aircraft, and a maximum of 06 working hours for the entire train or ship from the moment the conveyance requiring medical treatment is identified. If the medical treatment is not completed ten minutes before the end of the prescribed time, the border quarantine organization must notify the extension of the medical treatment time in writing and specify the reasons to the conveyance owner. The extended time may not exceed 01 working hour for each road conveyance, each railway car, or each aircraft, and may not exceed 06 working hours for the entire train or ship from the time of notification of the extension.

Article 9. Border health quarantine signal regulations for ships upon entry

1. During the day, ships must hoist signals using flags:

a) Flag "Q" indicating the ship requests health quarantine for entry;

b) Flags "QQ" indicating the ship is suspected of carrying infectious diseases in Group A;

c) Flags "QL" indicating the ship carries infectious diseases in Group A.

2. At night, ships must hoist signals using red and white lights separated by 2 meters vertically on the forward mast:

a) One red light indicating the ship requests health quarantine for entry;

b) Two red lights indicating the ship is suspected of carrying infectious diseases in Group A;

c) One red light and one white light indicating the ship carries infectious diseases in Group A;

3. While waiting for health quarantine or during the health quarantine process, persons on board the ship are not allowed to disembark or embark, and goods are not allowed to be loaded or unloaded except in cases of ship accidents.

Article 10. Health quarantine for domestic port transfer of aircrafts and ships

1. Aircrafts and ships that have completed health quarantine procedures upon entry at the first port and then transfer to other ports do not need to undergo health quarantine procedures again.

2. Based on the port transfer documentation, the border health quarantine organization at the arrival port shall implement supervision in accordance with Clause 2, Article 18 of this Decree.

Article 11. Health quarantine for transit conveyances

1. For conveyances in transit where persons and goods do not disembark from the conveyance, health quarantine shall not be carried out.

2. The border health quarantine organization shall monitor conveyances in accordance with Clause 2 of Article 18 of this Decree.

PART III

HEALTH QUARANTINE FOR GOODS

Article 12. Declaration of health for goods

The consignor must declare health for goods according to the prescribed form under Clause 4 of Article 6 of this Decree when importing, exporting, or transiting goods, except for goods in transit that are not unloaded from the conveyance.

Article 13. Health inspection of goods

1. Inspect the health declaration form for goods as stipulated in Article 12 of this Decree.

2. In cases where goods originate from or pass through areas affected by epidemics or carry infectious disease agents, they must be inspected as follows:

a) Compare the contents of the declaration with the actual situation;

b) Assess the general hygiene condition.

3. Take samples and conduct tests in the following situations:

a) Goods showing signs of carrying infectious disease agents or vectors;

b) There is notification from the competent authority regarding goods posing a risk of spreading diseases.

4. The on-site inspection of goods must be completed within a maximum of 01 working hour counted from the time the health declaration for the goods is completed.

If the goods subject to inspection require health treatment, health treatment shall be carried out in accordance with Article 14 of this Decree. If the goods do not require health treatment or the on-site inspection period has expired, the border health quarantine organization shall issue a health inspection certificate according to Form No. 5 prescribed in Clause 3 of Article 7 of this Decree and must notify the customs authority responsible for handling import, export, or transit procedures for those goods.

Article 14. Health treatment of goods

1. Goods carrying or showing signs of carrying infectious disease pathogens belonging to Group A must be handled as follows:

a) Eradicate disease-causing agents and vectors;

b) Compel destruction or re-exportation for goods that cannot eradicate disease-causing agents or vectors, the costs of destruction or re-exportation shall be borne by the consignor; if the goods cannot be identified, the border health quarantine organization shall report to the People's Committee of the province or centrally governed city for allocation of funds for destruction, when the destruction costs exceed the budget balance capacity, the People's Committee of the province or centrally governed city shall report to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and submission to the Prime Minister for support from the central government budget.

2. Issue a health treatment certificate according to Form No. 5 prescribed in Clause 3 of Article 7 of this Decree after the goods have eradicated disease-causing agents and vectors.

3. The application of health treatment measures as stipulated in point a of Clause 1 of this Article must be completed within a maximum of 04 working hours from the time the goods requiring health treatment are discovered. If the health treatment is not completed 10 minutes before the end of the specified time, the border health quarantine organization must notify the extension of the health treatment time in writing and specify the reasons to the consignor. The extended time shall not exceed 04 hours from the time of the extension notice.

PART IV

HEALTH INSPECTION OF CORPSES, REMAINS, CREMATED REMAINS, MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY SAMPLES, BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS, TISSUES, AND BODY PARTS

Article 15. Health inspection of corpses, remains, cremated remains

1. The transport across borders of deceased persons who died from infectious diseases classified under Group A is prohibited.

2. When transporting corpses, remains, or cremated remains across borders, the person responsible for transportation must declare health information according to Form No. 7 attached as Appendix I of this Decree and present a certificate confirming medical treatment issued by a healthcare organization at the point of origin.

3. Border health inspection organizations shall apply the following health inspection measures:

a) Inspect and compare the contents of the documents specified in Clause 2 of this Article with the actual preservation of corpses, remains, and cremated remains in accordance with the laws on hygiene during funerals;

b) Apply medical treatment in accordance with the laws on hygiene during funerals if corpses, remains, or cremated remains lack a certificate confirming medical treatment or if improper preservation or transportation conditions are discovered that do not meet the hygiene requirements set forth in the laws on hygiene during funerals.

4. Issue a health inspection certificate for corpses, remains, and cremated remains according to Form No. 8 attached as Appendix I of this Decree when such items meet the hygiene requirements stipulated by the laws on hygiene during funerals.

5. The inspection and medical treatment of one corpse, one set of remains, or one set of cremated remains must be completed within a maximum time of one hour from the moment the border health inspection organization receives all necessary documents.

Article 16. Health inspection of medical microbiology samples, biological products, tissues, and body parts

1. Medical microbiology samples, biological products, tissues, and body parts transported across borders must have written approval from the Minister of Health.

2. The person transporting medical microbiology samples, biological products, tissues, and body parts must declare health information according to Form No. 9 attached as Appendix I of this Decree and present the written approval of the Minister of Health.

3. Border health inspection organizations shall apply the following health inspection measures:

a) Inspect and compare the contents of the documents specified in Clause 2 of this Article with the actual preservation of medical microbiology samples, biological products, tissues, and body parts in accordance with the regulations of the Minister of Health.

b) Apply medical treatment in accordance with the regulations of the Minister of Health if medical microbiology samples, biological products, tissues, and body parts do not meet the requirements set forth by the Minister of Health.

4. Issue a health inspection certificate for medical microbiology samples, biological products, tissues, and body parts according to Form No. 10 attached as Appendix I of this Decree when such items meet the requirements set forth by the Minister of Health.

5. The inspection and medical treatment of one medical microbiology sample, one biological product, one tissue, or one body part must be completed within a maximum time of one hour from the moment the border health inspection organization receives all necessary documents.

Chapter III

SURVEILLANCE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES IN BORDER ZONES

Article 17. Surveillance of infectious diseases in border zones

The surveillance of infectious diseases in border zones shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of Chapter II of the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases.

Article 18. Supervision of hygiene conditions for preventing infectious diseases in border areas

1. Supervise the assurance of hygiene conditions in preventing infectious diseases and food safety conditions for organizations and individuals producing, processing, supplying food, and providing catering services in border areas.

2. Supervise the removal of waste that poses a risk of spreading infectious diseases from transport vehicles, unsafe food, and other contaminated substances in border areas.

Chapter IV

ORGANIZATION OF BORDER HEALTH QUARANTINE AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Article 19. Organization of border health quarantine

1. The organization of border health quarantine shall be established by the Chairman of the People's Committee of the province or centrally governed city with a border gate.

2. The Minister of Health shall guide the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the border health quarantine organization.

Article 20. Responsibilities of Ministries, People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities with border gates

1. The Minister of Health shall have the responsibility:

a) To direct and organize the implementation of information provision and exchange on infectious diseases within the country and internationally as prescribed by law;

b) To stipulate the health declaration according to Article 3; specify clinical examination measures and sample testing for each infectious disease specified in points c and d, Clause 2, Article 4; guide medical isolation measures for persons as specified in point a, Clause 1, Article 5; medical treatment measures for transport means as specified in point a, Clause 2, Article 8; sampling and testing for goods as specified in Clause 3, Article 13; measures to eliminate pathogens and vectors of infectious diseases for goods as specified in point a, Clause 1, Article 14; guide the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the border health quarantine organization as specified in Clause 2, Article 19.

2. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Public Security, Finance, Transport, Agriculture and Rural Development, and related agencies shall direct subordinate units within their respective duties and powers to cooperate with the border health quarantine organization to implement relevant quarantine activities upon request of the Minister of Health.

3. The Chairman of the People's Committee of the province or centrally governed city with a border gate shall have the responsibility:

a) To direct related units in the province or city to cooperate with the border health quarantine organization to implement health quarantine as prescribed in this Decree.

b) Ensuring conditions for border health quarantine organizations to carry out their activities.

Article 21. Responsibilities of specialized agencies at border gates

1. Specialized agencies at border gates within their assigned functions and tasks shall have the responsibility to implement relevant contents concerning health quarantine upon request of the border health quarantine organization.

2. The head of the border gate management board or the person in charge of managing the infrastructure of the border gate, the station master, or the port director shall be responsible for arranging working locations, clinics, temporary isolation rooms, and isolation zones at the border gate for the border health quarantine organization to carry out its activities.

3. Customs, animal quarantine, and plant quarantine agencies shall be responsible for implementing relevant contents concerning health quarantine upon request of the border health quarantine organization when inspecting goods that are animals, plants, or food originating from or passing through epidemic areas or suspected areas or carrying infectious disease pathogens.

4. Border guard agencies, port agencies, and customs agencies may only process entry, exit, transit procedures for persons and transport vehicles; import, export, transit procedures for goods; cross-border transportation of corpses, remains, ashes, biological samples, biological products, human tissues, and organs after the border health quarantine organization has completed the health quarantine procedures as prescribed in this Decree.

Article 22. Responsibilities of medical quarantine officers

While performing their duties, medical quarantine officers have the rights and responsibilities:

1. To carry out medical quarantine activities as prescribed in this Decree.

2. To wear uniforms, insignias, badges, and quarantine officer cards as specified in Appendix II attached to this Decree.

3. To have the right to enter places where individuals subject to medical quarantine are located at border gates, except for areas restricted due to security and defense reasons, in which case medical quarantine officers must comply with the regulations of the managing authority.

4. To sign confirmation on forms and use English stamps as prescribed by law.

Article 23. Responsibilities of persons entering, exiting, transiting, owners of conveyances, and consignors

1. To declare fully and be responsible for the contents of the health declaration form as prescribed in this Decree.

2. To comply with medical examinations and treatments conducted by border medical quarantine organizations as prescribed in this Decree.

3. To pay border medical quarantine fees as prescribed by the Minister of Finance.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 24. Effective Date

This Decree takes effect from December 1, 2010.

The Government's Decree No. 41/1998/NĐ-CP dated June 11, 1998, promulgating the Border Health Quarantine Regulations of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is hereby repealed.

The health declaration form prescribed in Appendix VIII issued together with the Government's Decree No. 71/2006/NĐ-CP dated July 25, 2006, on port management and maritime channels, is hereby repealed.

Article 25. Responsibilities for Implementation

The Ministry of Health shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to develop guiding documents and supervise the implementation of this Decree.

Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-affiliated agencies, and Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees directly under the central government with border gates are responsible for enforcing this Decree./.