G/SG/N/7/VNM/3  
G/SG/N/11/VNM/3  
 
24 March 2016  
(16-1727)  Page: 1/5  
Committee on Safeguards  Original: English  
 
 NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.4 OF THE AGREEMENT ON 
SAFEGUARDS BEFORE TAKING A PROVISIONAL SAFEGUARD 
MEASURE REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 6 
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 9, FOOTNOTE 2 
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS 
VIET NAM 
(Monosodium glutamate) 
The following communication, dated 23 March 2016, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Viet Nam.  
_______________ 
  
In accordance with Ordinance No. 42/2002/PL-UBTVQH10 dated 25 May 2002 of the Standing 
Committee of the National Assembly on Safeguards on Imports of Foreign Goods into Vietnam and Decree No. 150/2003/ND-CP dated 8 December 2003 of the Government providing detailed 
regulations for implementation of Ordinance on safeguards on imports of foreign goods into 
Vietnam, the Ministry of Industry and Trade notifies the application of safeguard measures on monosodium glutamate under HS code of 2922.4220.  
1. Background  
 On 1 September 2015, the Ministry of Industry  and Trade issued the Decision No. 9269/QD-BCT 
on the initiation of safeguard investigation on monosodium glutamate (hereinafter referred to as 
"subject products") imported from various countries.  
 
2. Subject product  
 Detailed description of the subject products covered by the investigation as follows:  
 
Scientific name Monosodium L-glutamate, Sodium glutamate  
INS 621  
ADI unlimited 
Common name  Monosodium glutamate (MSG),  mononatri glutamat, sodium  glutamate, natri clorua 
of acid glutamic  
Trade name  Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)  
Chemical names  Mononatri L-glutamat mo nohydrat, monohydrat, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) 
C.A.S. code  6106-04-3  
Numerator formula  C5H8NNaO4.H2O  
Structure formula  
 
Numerator weight  187,13 
 G/SG/N/7/VNM/3 • G/SG/N/11/VNM/3 
 
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  Purposes of use 
 MSG is a kind of white crystalline substance (salt of axit glutamic) used around the world, as itself of a complex of substance, mainly as a savory enhancer in foods such as meat, fish, soup, some 
kinds of fruits and drinks, frozen and processed food, and sauces. It is applied a smaller amount of 
non-food products, such as detergents, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.  
HS code 
 Monosodium glutamate  products under HS Code: 2922.42.20. 
 
3. Safeguard measures applied 
 Ministry of Industry and Trade shall apply safeguar d measure in the form of import duty on subject 
products imported into Vietnam as follows: 
 
Effective period Safeguard duties 
25/3/2016 - 24/3/2017 4,390,999 VND/ton 
25/3/2017 - 24/3/2018 3,951,899 VND/ton 
25/3/2018 - 24/3/2019 3,556,710 VND/ton 
25/3/2019 - 24/3/2020 3,201,039 VND/ton 
 4. Countries or origin of products under investigation subject to safeguard measure 
 
Safeguard measure is applied to imported products from all countries under investigation, except 
for countries excluded from the investigation in accordance with the regulation on negligible volume of imports (Article 13 of Decree 150/2003/ND-CP of 8 December 2003 detailing regulations 
for implementation of Ordinance on safeguards on imports of foreign goods into Vietnam). Please 
see the list of countries excluded from th e investigation in the Appendix below. 
 
5. Effective date of the safeguard measures 
 Safeguard measures will take effort after 15 days from the date of signing of the Decision of the Minister of Industry and Trade, i.e. 25 March 2016. 
 
6. Basis for application of the safeguard measures  
Based on the information provided by interested parties, the Investigating Authority determines as 
follows: 
 
- The domestic industry is a group of monosodium glutamate companies whose 
manufacturing monosodium glutamate in Vietnam, that represent more than 50% of total 
Vietnam production. 
 
- Domestically produced like product consists of monosodium glutamate. These products 
have the same components of raw materials, sp ecification, production methods, purposes of 
use with the imported subject products above. 
 - The volume of subject products imported to Vietnam increased in both relative and absolute 
terms. 
 - The domestic industry has suffered serious injury. Specifically, the domestic industry has 
got losing market share, reduction of productivity, turnover, sales volume, employment, 
utilization of capacity, increase of inventorie s in the period of 2011-2014, especially 2014. 
 - The increase of import of subject products has caused serious injury to the domestic 
industry. 
 - The economic crisis in China in recent years and the excess of capacity with the large 
amount of inventories of monosodium glutamate in China; and the application of trade 
remedy measures to monosodium glutamate products of some countries are considered as "unforeseen development" and are the reasons for the surge of imports to Vietnam. G/SG/N/7/VNM/3 • G/SG/N/11/VNM/3 
 
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  7. Further information  
 Information on the decision to apply safeguard measures on subject products is accessible at the website of the Ministry of Industry and Trade ( http://www.moit.gov.vn ) and Vietnam Competition 
Authority ( http://www.vca.gov.vn  or http://www.qlct.gov.vn ). 
 
Further information and comments should be sent to: 
 
Trade Remedies Investigation Division Vietnam Competition Authority - Ministry of Industry and Trade Address: 25 Ngo Quyen Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam 
Phone: (+84 4) 222.05002 (ext: 1035) (Mr. Truong Hung) 
Fax: (+84 4) 222.05003 Email: hungnht@moit.gov.vn ; ninhtt@moit.gov.vn  
 
 G/SG/N/7/VNM/3 • G/SG/N/11/VNM/3 
 
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  APPENDIX 
LIST OF COUNTRIES EXCLUDED FROM THE INVESTIGATION 
1. Sub-Sahara Africa 
 
Angola Gambia, The  Rwanda 
Benin Ghana Sao Tome and Principe 
Botswana Guinea Senegal 
Burkina Faso Guinea-Bissau Sierra Leone 
Burundi Kenya Somalia 
Cabo Verde Lesotho South Africa 
Cameroon Liberia South Sudan 
Central African Republic Madagascar Sudan 
Chad Malawi Swaziland  
Comoros Mali Tanzania 
Congo, Dem. Rep. Mauritania Togo 
Congo, Rep. Mauritius Uganda 
Cote d'Ivoire Mo zambique Zambia 
Eritrea Namibia Zimbabwe 
Ethiopia Niger  
Gabon Nigeria  
 
2. Asia Pacific 
 
American Samoa Myanmar 
Cambodia Palau 
Fiji Papua New Guinea 
Kiribati Philippines 
Korea, Dem. Rep. Samoa 
Lao PDR Solomon Islands 
Malaysia Timor-Leste 
Marshall Islands Tonga 
Micronesia, Fed. Sts. Tuvalu 
Mongolia Vanuatu 
 
3. Europe and Central Asia 
 
Albania Macedonia, FYR 
Armenia Moldova 
Azerbaijan Montenegro 
Belarus Romania 
Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbia 
Bulgaria Tajikistan 
Georgia Turkey 
Kazakhstan Turkmenistan 
Kosovo Ukraine 
Kyrgyz Republic Uzbekistan 
 G/SG/N/7/VNM/3 • G/SG/N/11/VNM/3 
 
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  4. Latin America and Caribbean 
 
Belize Guyana 
Bolivia Haiti 
Brazil Honduras 
Colombia Jamaica 
Costa Rica Mexico 
Cuba Nicaragua 
Dominica Panama 
Dominican Republic Paraguay 
Ecuador Peru 
El Salvador St. Lucia 
Grenada St. Vincent and the Grenadines 
Guatemala Suriname 
 
5. Middle East and North Africa  
 
Algeria Libya 
Djibouti Morocco 
Egypt, Arab Rep. Syrian Arab Republic 
Iran, Islamic Rep. Tunisia 
Iraq West Bank and Gaza 
Jordan Yemen, Rep. 
Lebanon  
 
6. South Asia  
 
Afghanistan Maldives 
Bangladesh Nepal 
Bhutan Pakistan 
India Sri Lanka 
 
 
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