Vietnam recently issued Decree No. 111/2021/ND-CP (Decree 111), which amends rules on the labeling of goods and takes effect on February 15, 2022.
Decree 111 aims to tackle tax evasion and fraud, and mandates individuals and organizations that produce, export, or import goods to record and determine the origin of their goods.
Their labels must ensure accuracy, truthfulness, and compliance with legal provisions on the origin of goods imported to, exported from, and manufactured in Vietnam, or any country participating in international agreements with Vietnam.
Decree 111 amends Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CP (Decree 43) on product labeling regulations.
Decree 111 mandates that goods imported into Vietnam must have their original label either in a foreign language or in Vietnamese with the following information:
Previously under Decree 43, if the original label of an imported good did not conform with the provisions under the decree, then the importer had to make a supplementary label before sending such goods into the market.
Decree 43 made it obligatory to display the origin of goods on labels without other alternatives. This caused difficulty for businesses that could not determine the origin of their goods. Decree 111 modifies this by adding a clause whereby if the origin of goods could not be determined, the business can state the place where the final production stage was conducted.
The following statements or phrases should be presented together with the country or territory where the final production stage took place:
The decree also forbids abbreviating the country where the goods were completed or manufactured.
The scope of regulations for the labeling of goods was restricted to goods imported and circulated in Vietnam, according to Decree 43. Decree 111 has expanded this scope to include exported goods.
Goods labeled for export must comply with the regulations of the importing country. The origin of goods labels must comply with Vietnamese regulations or with the international agreements that Vietnam is a signatory to.
This article was first published by VietnamBriefing which is produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The firm assists foreign investors throughout Asia from offices across the world, including in in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, India, and Russia. Readers may write to [email protected].
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