. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/VNM/4 
13 February 2008  
 (08-0658) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  VIET NAM
  
If applicable, name of local government involved:     
2. Agency responsible:  Viet Nam Food Administrati on - Ministry of Health 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numb er(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Draft No. 10:  Regulations on management of hygiene and safety of food 
products originated from gene-modified organisms 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  Not 
stated. 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  (Issued in conjunction 
with Decision     /2007/QD-BYT dated ... 2007 of the Minister of Health) (6 pages) 
6. Description of content:   
This regulation includes 15 articles that are presented in 5 chapters:  
Chapter 1. General regulation (a rticles 1-4); Chapter 2. Genera l regulation applies to gene-
modified foods that are produced  in Viet Nam or import for do mestic consumption (articles 5-
6); Chapter 3. General regulation applies to  imported gene-m odified food (articles 7-9); 
Chapter 4. Trading, advertisement, labelling, supervision and suspension of circulation of 
gene-modified food (articles 9-13 ); Chapter 5. Implementation regulations (articles 14-15). 
Scope of application: 
1.  Regulations on management of hygiene and safety of food products originated from gene-
modified organisms produced in Viet Nam or imported for domestic consumption include: 
(a) gene-modified materials for food processing or processed food for packaging and re-
labelling. 
(b) packed food, which contains gene-modified ingredients. 
2.  The following gene-modified food s are not regulated by this issue: 
(a) gene-modified fresh food or primarily gene-modified pro cessed food in the list of 
items under the plant and animal quarantine; 
(b) gene-modified food for testi ng or research samples; 
(c) gene-modified food bei ng samples in fairs; 
(d) gene-modified food being agricultur al products importe d and exported. 
Objective of application: 
This regulation is applicable to organizations and individuals  who produce, trade and import 
gene-modified food as stipulated in Clau se 1, Article 1 of these regulations. G/SPS/N/VNM/4 
Page 2  
 
  7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [   ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, [  
 ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests    
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [ X ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:    
9. Relevant documents and language (s) in which these are available:   Available in 
Vietnamese and English 
10. Proposed date of adoption:  Unidentified 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  Unidentified 
12. Final date for comments:  28 March 2008 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification 
authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body: 
13. Texts available from:  [   ] National notificati on authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or 
address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
Vietnam SPS Notifi cation Authority and Enquiry Point 
2 Ngoc Ha street.  Hanoi.  Vietnam Tel:  +(84 4) 734 4764 
Fax:  +(84 4) 734 4764 
E-mail:  spsvietnam@mard.gov.vn Website:  http://www.spsvietnam.gov.vn
 
 Vietnam Food Administrati on - Ministry of Health 
135 Nui Truc str, Ba Dinh dist., Hanoi 
Tel:  +(84 4) 846 4490/736 6440 ext. 5030 Fax:  +(84 4) 846 3739 E-mail:  cucqltp@hn.vnn.vn Website:  http://www.vfa.gov.vn