Ministry of Health cuts over 50% of food products that must be inspected before customs clearance

On December 13, in Hanoi , the Food Safety Department held a meeting to summarize the State inspection of imported food safety in 2024.

At the meeting, Dr. Tran Viet Nga, Director of the Food Safety Department, summarized the system of legal documents related to State inspection of imported food and the process of amending and supplementing the system of related legal documents to implement the Government 's annual Resolutions on improving the investment and business environment, strongly shifting from pre-inspection to post-inspection, and at the same time minimizing compliance costs for businesses when carrying out administrative procedures.

According to Ms. Nga, regarding the List of food products subject to State inspection for imported food safety, from 2021 to present, the Ministry of Health has issued 2 Circulars and reduced over 50% of the number of product lines subject to State inspection before customs clearance.

In 2024, the Ministry of Health issued Circular No. 15/2024/TT-BYT (effective from November 2, 2024) promulgating the list of foods, food additives and food containers, packaging materials in direct contact with food that have been identified with commodity codes according to the list of Vietnamese export and import goods subject to State inspection of imported food safety under the management of the Ministry of Health, accordingly, the number of product lines subject to State inspection includes 03 product groups with 398 product lines.

Also at the summary meeting, Ms. Tran Viet Nga commended all State inspection agencies designated/assigned by the Ministry of Health for performing 100% of State inspection procedures on the National Single Window System and according to the reports of the units, the implementation time was ensured to be within the time prescribed in Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP; some units had a normal inspection procedure time of only 1-3 hours.

In addition to the achieved results, Director, Dr. Tran Viet Nga also requested that State Inspection Agencies frankly acknowledge the shortcomings and limitations of State inspection work in 2024 at their units, thereby exchanging and discussing to perfect the inspection procedures according to the provisions of Circular 15/2024/TT-BYT for implementation. Ms. Nga also requested that, during the implementation process, if there are any problems, the State inspection agencies should send written comments to the Department of Food Safety for guidance on how to resolve them according to current regulations.

An An

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/bo-y-te-cat-giam-tren-50-dong-hang-thuc-pham-phai-kiem-tra-truoc-thong-quan-ar913824.html