Vietnam Chemicals Law

Vietnam

Vietnam Chemicals Law

Little Pro on 2016-01-05

In Vietnam, the main chemical law is the Chemical Law issued in Nov 2007. It is supported by various decree and ministerial circular such as:

Decree No. 113/2017/ND-CP Specifying and providing guidelines for implementation of certain articles of the law on chemicals [New in 2017].
Circular No. 40/2011/TT-BCT of November 14, 2011, on Chemical declaration;
Circular no. 04/2012/TT-BCT stipulating the regulations on classification and chemical labeling;

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is leading chemical management in Vietnam. A dedicated agency Vietnam Chemicals Agency (Vinachemia) was established by the Ministry of Industry and Technology (MIT) in 2009 to overhaul the chemical management in Vietnam.

The Chemical Law provides regulations on chemical handling, safety in chemical handling, right and obligations of organizations and individuals engaged in chemical handling, and state management of chemical handling.

List of Regulated Chemicals

Decree No. 113/2017/ND-CP has designated lists of chemicals subject to regulatory control under the Chemical Law and specified detailed conditions on chemical manufacturers and traders. This chemicals Decree comes into force on November 25, 2017 and replaces the Decree No. 108/2008/ND-CP issued on October 07, 2008.

For companies producing, importing or trading chemicals in Vietnam, the most important thing is to check if their chemicals are on the following regulatory lists or not.

The list of chemicals subject to conditional production or import (1);
The list of chemicals restricted from production or trade (2);
The list of banned chemicals;
The list of hazardous chemicals for which chemical incident prevention and response plans are required;
The list of chemicals subject to compulsory declarations;

The above lists can be found in Decree No. 113/2017/ND-CP.

Chemicals Subject to Compulsory Declaration

Importers of chemicals on the list of chemicals subject to declaration must declare the chemicals in hard copy or electronically to the Vietnam Chemicals Agency and obtain declaration certificates first. Producers must make written declarations to provioncial/munical Industry and Trade Services before 31 Jan each year.

Information to be provided includes chemical identity, a chemical safety data sheet in Vietnamese and in original language(for imported chemicals), chemical sale and purchase invoices and other documents. A fee needs to be paid.

Chemicals produced or imported with a volume less than 100kg/y are exempt from declaration provided that they are not restricted from production/trade and not subject to the control of international conventions.

Vietnam National Chemical Inventory and New Chemical Substance Registration

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has designated Vinachemia to develop a new national chemical inventory. Any substances not listed on the inventory will be regarded as new substances and require registration before they can be used in Vietnam, imported to Vietnam or produced in Vietnam. The first version of draft chemical inventory only contains about 3,000 substances and was published in Oct 2016 for consulations.

Vietnam's National Chemical Database

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) in Vietnam launches its new national chemical database in August 2018. The database not only contains its draft national chemical inventory (NCI) but also includes regulated chemicals list under Vietnam's Chemicals Law.

Vietnam's national chemical database

GHS in Vietnam

Vietnam has already implemented GHS through the Chemical Law, Decree 108/2008/ND-CP and Circular no. 04/2012/TT-BCT. GHS SDSs and labels are required for hazardous substances from 30 March 2014.

Reference & Resources

Click here to access all references and resources for Vietnam including the English translation of regulations, regulatory lists and useful links to the websites of competent authorities.

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