Circular No. 25/2019/TT-BYT stipulates the traceability of food products under the management of the Ministry of Health.

CIRCULAR
Regulations on tracing the origin of food products under the management of the Ministry of Health
Pursuant to the Food Safety Law No. 55/2010/QH12 dated November 17, 2010

Decree No. 8/2018/ND-CP dated February 2, 2018 of the Government detailing certain articles of the Food Safety Law;June 2024;art. 6 year 2010;

Pursuant to Decreeand amended and supplemented by certain articles related to conditions for investment and business and administrative procedures in the field of information and communications on November 7, 20185/201Decree No. 75/2017/ND-CP dated June 20, 2017 of the Government on the organization of the Ministry of Health;"b) In addition to the lists of public services issued according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 4 of this Decree, specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees shall report to the provincial People's Committee for decision-making on amending, supplementing, or issuing the list of public services funded by the state budget within their jurisdiction and consistent with the local budget capacity within the approved budget by the Provincial People's Assembly, and send it to the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and sectors for supervision during implementation."The Minister of Health issues this Circular regulating the tracing of the origin of food products under the management of the Ministry of Health,i This Circular stipulates the principles, circumstances for tracing the origin of food products, and the responsibility for implementing the tracing of the origin of food products, food supplements, additives, flavorings, processing aids, utensils, packaging materials, and containers that come into direct contact with food products under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health (hereinafter referred to as food products) as specified in Appendix II attached to Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP dated February 2, 2018 of the Government.duties Pursuant to Decree No. 11/2020/NĐ-CP dated October 15, 2020 of the Government detailing implementation of certain provisions and measures for organizing the implementation of the Law on Petitions;No. This Circular applies to organizations and individuals involved in producing and trading in the food products as stipulated in Article 1 of this Circular (hereinafter referred to as establishments); other agencies, organizations, and individuals engaged in activities related to ensuring food safety under the management of the Ministry of Health in Vietnam.

Pursuant to DecreeNo. Article 3. Principles of Tracing the Origin of Food Products"b) In addition to the lists of public services issued according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 4 of this Decree, specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees shall report to the provincial People's Committee for decision-making on amending, supplementing, or issuing the list of public services funded by the state budget within their jurisdiction and consistent with the local budget capacity within the approved budget by the Provincial People's Assembly, and send it to the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and sectors for supervision during implementation."Theo đề nghị của Vụ trưởng Vụ Tín dụngof the Government stipulating functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Home Affairs1. Tracing the origin of food products shall be conducted according to the principle of one step before and one step after, ensuring monitoring and identification of the production process before and after within the establishment; the production and business establishments before and after that have produced and traded in food products.policies;

At the proposal of the Director of the Food Safety Administration,

2. Tracing the origin of food products shall be carried out by lot for food products requiring tracing.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

3. When tracing the origin of food products that do not ensure safety, the production and business establishments of food products shall use information extracted from the origin tracing data system established by the establishment in accordance with Articles 4 and 5 of this Circular and other relevant sources of information.Article 4. Requirements for Information in the Origin Tracing Data System for Food Product Production EstablishmentsWhen establishing the origin tracing data system for food products, food product production establishments must organize, record, store, and ensure readiness to extract and report the following information:

Article 2. Applicability

1. Information about the production batch of food products:a) Name of the food product;b) Batch number of the food product;

c) Quantity of food products in the batch;

d) Date of production of the batch of food products;

đ) Expiry date for food products that are required to indicate an expiry date;

e) Product identification code (if applicable);

g) Raw materials, additives, processing aids of the batch of food products: name, information about the origin of the product as prescribed for domestically produced products, information about the origin of imported goods as prescribed for imported products;

h) Packaging, utensils, packaging materials, and containers that come into direct contact with food products used to package the batch of food products: name, information about the origin of the product as prescribed for domestically produced products, information about the origin of imported goods as prescribed for imported products.

2. Quantity of food products in the production batch that have been shipped out and remaining in the warehouses of the food product production establishment.

3. List of names and addresses of customers, distributors of food products (if any); quantity of food products in the production batch that have been received, sold, and remaining in the warehouse.

b) Production batch number of food products;

c) Quantity of food products in the production batch;

d) Date of production of the food product batch;

đ) Expiry date for food products that are required to be labeled with an expiry date;

e) Product identification code (if any);

g) Raw materials, additives, processing aids of the food product batch: name, information on origin of the product as prescribed for domestically produced products, information on the origin of goods as prescribed for imported products;

h) Packaging materials, containers, and other materials directly contacting food products used to package the food product batch: name, information on origin of the product as prescribed for domestically produced products, information on the origin of goods as prescribed for imported products.

2. Quantity of food products from the production batch that have been shipped out of stock, remaining in various warehouses of the food product manufacturing facility.

3. List of names and addresses of customers, distributors of food products (if any); quantity of food products from the production batch that have been received, sold, and remain in stock.

Article 5. Requirements for information of the traceability system of food products for food product business establishments

When establishing the traceability system of food products, food product business establishments must organize, record, store, and ensure readiness to extract and report the following information:

1. The name and address of the supplier providing food products to the business establishment.

2. Information about the type of food product, quantity of food products in the batch that have been imported, sold, and remaining in stock at the business establishment.

3. List of names and addresses of customers, distributors of food products (if any); quantity of food products from the production batch that have been received, sold, and remain in stock.

Article 6. Cases where traceability of food products does not ensure safety

1. Food product production and business establishments must immediately carry out traceability of unsafe food products when they discover such products themselves or receive warning information from organizations or individuals regarding unsafe food products from their establishment.

2. Food product production and business establishments must carry out traceability of unsafe food products when requested by competent authorities.

Article 7. Responsibilities of food product production and business establishments

1. Establish a traceability system for food products, retain complete information about batches of food products, origin, place of manufacture, product safety, raw materials, production and processing procedures, storage, and sale of food products as stipulated in Articles 4 and 5 of this Circular.

2. Store and maintain the traceability information system of food products of the establishment for a minimum period of 12 (twelve) months from the expiration date of the batch of food products, and 24 months from the production date of the batch of food products for containers and materials that come into direct contact with food and food products that are not required to bear an expiration date.

3. Must carry out traceability of food products according to Article 6 of this Circular and submit a written report on the results of traceability of food products to the competent authority within a maximum of 05 (five) working days from the date of self-discovery or receipt of warning information from organizations or individuals or upon request for traceability from the competent authority. The report must contain all information as stipulated in Articles 4 and 5 of this Circular.

4. Analyze and determine the cause of safety issues for the batch of food products requiring traceability. In cases where food products are unsafe, they must be recalled and handled in accordance with the law.

5. Implementation of the traceability system of food products using product identification codes shall be carried out when requested by the competent authority.

Article 8. Effective Date

This Circular takes effect from October 16, 2019.

Article 9. Responsibility for implementation

1. The Department of Food Safety (Ministry of Health) is responsible for organizing, guiding implementation, inspecting, and supervising the implementation of this Circular nationwide.

2. Provincial Departments of Health and competent authorities on food safety in centrally governed cities are responsible for organizing, guiding implementation, inspecting, and supervising the implementation of this Circular in their respective localities within their delegated management authority.

3. The Director of the Department of Food Safety, the Head of the Ministry's Office, the Inspector General of the Ministry, the Heads of Departments, Directors of Bureaus, and the Heads of General Bureaus under the Ministry of Health and related agencies, organizations, and individuals are responsible for enforcing this Circular.

During the implementation process, if there are difficulties or obstacles, agencies, organizations, and individuals should promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Health (Department of Food Safety) for guidance and resolution./.