G/SG/N/7/VNM/3/Rev.1, G/SG/N/8/VNM/5  
G/SG/N/10/VNM/4, G/SG/N/11/VNM/3/Rev.1  
 
23 October 2017  
(17-5721) Page: 1/5 
Committee on Safeguards  Original: English  
 
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER A RTICLE 12.1(B) OF TH E AGREEMENT  
ON SAFEGUARDS ON FIN DING A SERIOUS INJUR Y OR  
THREAT THEREOF CAUSE D BY INCREASED IMPOR TS 
 
NOTIFICATION PURSUAN T TO ARTICLE 12.1(C)  
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAF EGUARDS  
 
NOTIFICATION PURSUAN T TO ARTICLE 9, FOOT NOTE 2  
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS  
VIET NAM 
(Monosodium glutamate)1 
The following communication, dated 19 October 2017 , 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 29 22.4220.  
 
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 monohydrat, monohydrat, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)  
C.A.S. code  6106-04-3 
Numerator formula  C5H8NNaO4.H2O  
                                                
1 The text of this document is identical to the notification G/SG/N/7/VNM/3 -G/SG/N/11/VNM/3, 
circulated on 24 March 2016. The title needed to be corrected.  G/SG/N/7/VNM/3/Rev.1 • G/SG/N/8/VNM/5 • G/SG/N/10/VNM/4 • G/SG/N/11/VNM/3/Rev.1  
 
- 2 - 
 
  Structure form ula 
 
Numerator weight  187,13  
 
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 safeguard 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 detailin g regulations 
for implementation of Ordinance on safeguards on imports of foreign goods into Vietnam). Please 
see the list of countries excluded from the 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 Investigati ng 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, specification, production methods, purposes of 
use with the imported subject products above.  
 
- The volume of subject products im ported 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, 
utilizati on of capacity, increase of inventories in the period of 2011 -2014, especially 2014.  
 
G/SG/N/7/VNM/3/Rev.1 • G/SG/N/8/VNM/5 • G/SG/N/10/VNM/4 • G/SG/N/11/VNM/3/Rev.1  
 
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  - 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 capacit y 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.  
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 Compet ition 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/Rev.1 • G/SG/N/8/VNM/5 • G/SG/N/10/VNM/4 • G/SG/N/11/VNM/3/Rev.1  
 
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  APPENDIX  
LIST OF COUNTRIES EX CLUDED FROM THE INVE STIGATION  
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  Mozambique  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/Rev.1 • G/SG/N/8/VNM/5 • G/SG/N/10/VNM/4 • G/SG/N/11/VNM/3/Rev.1  
 
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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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