With the main function of storage, Packaging will have direct impact on the products and materials inside, potentially altering the properties of the contained objects. The packaging must also be capable of ensuring the integrity of the goods stored inside both before and after reaching the consumer. Because a lot of products are contained in packaging such as food, chemicals, etc. will enter the human body and cause health, physical, psychological impacts during use. .
For the above reason, Packaging productswill have to undergo a number of mandatory checks on imported goods. SMP GROUP will focus on products of bottles, jars, vases, cans, boxes … hereinafter referred to as bottles.
1. Legal basis
a) Commercial Law.
b) Law on Food Safety.
c) Decree No. 187/2013 / ND-CP Detailed provisions on the implementation of the Commercial Law regarding the international sale and purchase of goods and the agency activities of purchasing, selling, processing and transit with foreign countries.
d) Decision No. 818 / QD-BYT on the List of imported goods subject to food hygiene and safety inspection under HS code.
đ) Decree No. 15/2018 / ND-CP of the Government detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety.
e) Decree No. 43/2017 / ND-CP on Goods Labels.
f) Decree No. 155/2017 / ND-CP on Vietnam’s Special Preferential Import Tariffs for the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement between Vietnam and Japan for the period 2018-2023.
g) Decree No. 07/2020 / ND-CP on Vietnam’s Special Preferential Import Tariffs for the implementation of the ASEAN – Hong Kong, China Free Trade Agreement for the period of 2019-2022.
h) QCVN 12-1: 2011 / BYT: National technical regulation on safety and hygiene for synthetic plastic packaging and tools in direct contact with food.
i) QCVN 12-2: 2011 / BYT: National technical regulation on safety and hygiene for rubber implements, container and packaging in direct contact with foods.
k) QCVN 12-3: 2011 / BYT: National technical regulation on safety and hygiene for metallic containers in direct contact with foods.
l) QCVN 12-4: 2015 / BYT: National technical regulation on the safety and hygiene glass, ceramic, porcelain and enameled implements, containers, and packaging in direct contact with food.
There are also a number of laws, ordinances, decrees, instructions, technical regulations … of the central departments, ministries, and agencies related to international trade and investment as well as between Vietnam and Asian & European countries, along with the export regulations of host countries that do trade with Vietnam.
2. The legality of the IMPORTED bottle items
First of all, Bottles are items that are allowed to be imported into Vietnam pursuant to Decree 69/2018 / ND-CP on guidelines for the Law on Foreign Trade Management and the List of goods banned from export or suspended from export, the List of goods banned from import or suspended from import according to Decree No. 187/2013 / ND-CP.
Import policy for bottles:
The import of bottles will be divided into two main cases:
- Bottles for cosmetics and chemicals: import procedures are the same as for ordinary goods.
- Bottles for food, drugs (or products given directly into the human body): product declaration and food safety inspection are required. According to Decision No. 818 / QD-BYT of the Minister of Health, issued on March 5, 2007, Bottles belong to the “Packaging and containers of food items”, one of 13 types of goods in the “List of imported goods required to be examined hygiene and food safety by HS codes”.
Note: For products on the list of goods subject to price risk management, the importer may need to consult the customs authority.
3. Importing Bottles
In order to import packaging products, in particular bottles, into the country, the importer will have to do the following:
3.1. HS Code
HS Codes are an international standardized products classification codes, the full name is the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) codes used by the World Customs Organization. The HS Code is used to identify products for the assessing duties and taxes. Look up the HS Codes to help businesses determine:
- Payable taxes (import tax, VAT, other taxes …).
- Tax incentives.
For packaging products, specifically bottles, the HS codes the HS code will be determined based on the material of the product.
For example: Glass bottles belong to “Glass and glass products”, defined in Chapter 70 in the List of Import and Export Goods issued by the Ministry of Finance. Similar lookup for plastic bottles, aluminum, wood, ceramics …
3.2. Import tax lookup
The tax lookup helps the importer calculate the cost of importing the goods. Typically, import duties on packaged goods include the following:
- Import tax: includes ordinary import taxes and preferential import taxes.
Note: Preferential import tax will be applied to markets such as China, Japan (signed a preferential trade agreement with Vietnam). Preferential import tax on goods imported from China is usually 0%, goods imported from Japan are usually 0-5%.
- VAT: 10% (required).
- Other taxes: environmental protection tax, special consumption tax (if any).
Vietnam’s current import tariff is applied to each item under HS code. Based on the nature of the goods (ingredients, raw materials …), look up the HS Code, and then determine the import tax, VAT, preferential tax and other taxes (if any). For bottle products, the customer should be aware that tax rates apply separately to the body and accessories (e.g. cork)
Currently, the strategic markets of SMP GROUP, including China and Japan, have signed trade agreements with Vietnam or ASEAN (Vietnam is a member of ASEAN), for example, ACFTA ( ASEAN – China Free Trade Agreement), VJEPA (Vietnam – Japan Economic Partnership Agreement), AJCEP (ASEAN – Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement). These trade agreements help reduce import and export taxes to 0% for most products today.
Bottle importers will benefit as most products are exempt from import duties. Thus, importers only have to pay 10% VAT and some other taxes (if any). However, in order to enjoy this preferential tax rate, the seller is required to provide a certificate of origin (C/O) to the customer for submission at the customs of the importing country.
3.3 Signing foreign trade contracts
Commercial transactions officially begin from negotiating a purchase contract with suppliers. Customers can directly negotiate and sign contracts (in case of direct import through official channels) or SMP GROUP will act on behalf of customers to do foreign trade contracts (for authorized import services).
Accordingly, the two parties will agree on relevant conditions, which define some important information as follows:
- Name of goods
- Quantity / weight of the goods
- Packing specifications
- Delivery time
- Specifications of goods
- Price
- Delivery terms (CIF, FOB, EXW …)
- Payment: term, method: telegraphic transfer (TT) or letter credit (L/C), etc.
3.4 Product self-declaration
a) What is product self-declaration?
Product self-declaration means self-announcement by an enterprise to a competent state management agency on the quality of goods produced or imported from abroad into Vietnam by an individual, enterprise or organization.
Unlike the registration of the product proclamation (applied to products that must be announced before being put on the market), self-declaration means that an enterprise, organization or individual voluntarily discloses information about products and goods (ingredients, properties, uses, origins, manufacturing processes, etc.) in their business activities to a competent state agency without being subject to enforcement.
According to Article 4, Decree 15/2018 / ND-CP detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety, “packaging in direct contact with food”, including bottles, on the list of products that can make a self-declaration.
b) Benefits of product self-declaration
- The product is verified by the authorities for quality, not affecting the health of users.
- The benefits of enterprises and products are fully protected in accordance with the law.
- The product quickly gained the trust of customers.
- The business builds up reputation and transparency in sales activities, thereby creating a competitive advantage and promoting sales growth.
c) Food safety testing activities
The importer submits food safety declaration documents at only the Department of Food Safety – Ministry of Health.
Step 1: Prepare samples to be taken to register for testing at the testing center which is recognized for the results (National Testing Institute, Technical Center 1, 3 …).
Step 2: Prepare documents for food safety announcement.
- The business registration certificate of a Vietnamese trader clearly stating the business lines of products for publication (scanned copy).
- Report of product testing results (scanned copy).
- Product label or product label photo circulating in the country of origin.
- Sub-label of product circulating in Vietnam.
- Package specification, manufacturer’s name and address.
- Certificate of conformity with standards of HACCP or ISO 22000 (if any).
Step 3: Import documents and upload attachments on the online system of the Department of Food Safety.
Step 4: Pay the fee: Pay by Keypay (specified on the website of the department). For packaging products and containers, it is 500,000 VND/product.
Step 5: The Food Safety Department handles and announces food packaging in soft copies. The reporting period is 3 years or 5 years for records with HACCP certification.
d) Documentation of product self-declaration
1. The product self-declaration profile (Form No. 01, Appendix 1 attached to Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP).
2. Certificate of food safety testing results of products within 12 months to the date of submission issued by the designated testing laboratory or accredited testing laboratory in accordance with ISO 17025 including safety criteria set by the Ministry of Health issued according to the principles of risk management in accordance with international regulations or safety indicators according to relevant regulations and standards announced by organizations or individuals in the absence of regulations of Ministry of Health (original or certified copy).
e) Order of product self-declaration
According to Article 5, Decree 15/2018 / ND-CP, there are two ways for enterprises to self-declare their products:
Option 1: Organizations and individuals self-declare products on the mass media or their own website.
Option 2: Publicly post up at the head office of the organization or individual and submit 01 copy by post or directly to a competent state management agency designated by the provincial People’s Committee.
As soon as product self-declaration is done, organizations and individuals are entitled to manufacture and trade products and take full responsibility for the safety of products.
The competent state management agency receives the self-declaration of organizations and individuals to store records and post names of organizations, individuals and self-declared products on the websites of the receiving agencies.
Note:
- In case the organizations or individuals own 02 or more manufacturing facilities producing the same product, they shall only submit their application to one state management agency of the locality where the manufacturer is located, selected by the organization or individual.
- When a state management agency has been selected to submit self-declaration profiles, the subsequent applications must be submitted to the previously selected agency.
- Documents in the self-declaration profiles must be in Vietnamese; Documents in foreign languages must be translated into Vietnamese and notarized. Documents must be valid at the time of self-declaration.
- In case a product has any change in name, origin, ingredients, the organization or individual must self-declare the product again. In other cases, organizations and individuals shall notify in writing the changes to competent state management agencies and may produce and trade in products right after notification.
3.5. Customs procedures in the exporting country
SMP GROUP coordinates with suppliers to carry out export procedures in accordance with local regulations.
3.6. Customs import procedures in Vietnam
a) Registration for food safety inspection (for import)
As mentioned, as packaging products in general and bottles in particular are in direct contact with the contents, including food, medicine (products put directly into the human body), they will be required to state inspection of imported food safety.
Note: This is a food safety inspection to import all goods into the country, registered before or when the goods arrive at the border checkpoints (different from testing sample food safety when performing a product self-declaration).
Pursuant to Decree 15/2018 / ND-CP, there are three categories of quality inspection/food safety for imported products, including:
- Simplified Inspection
- Ordinary Inspection
- Strict Inspection
For each type of test there will be differences in the applicable conditions, the records to be prepared and the test sequence, where the difficulty will gradually increase from simplified to ordinary inspections, and the most complicated is strict inspection.
The consignments of the same type, origin, which have been successfully cleared many times will gradually simplify the form of inspection in accordance with regulations on reducing import and export administrative procedures, except for special cases.
Depending on the specific case, SMP GROUP will advise customers in detail on registration procedures for food safety inspection.
b) Customs documents
SMP GROUP as an import and export service provider will handle all import customs procedures in Vietnam on behalf of the customer.
|
No. |
Paperwork |
Person in charge |
|
01 |
Customs Declaration |
SMP GROUP |
|
02 |
International Sales Contracts |
SMP GROUP/Customer and Supplier |
|
03 |
Invoice |
Supplier |
|
04 |
Packing List |
Supplier |
|
05 |
State Budget Remittance Papers |
SMP GROUP / Customer |
|
06 |
Certificate of Origin (C/O) |
Supplier |
|
07 |
Import License |
SMP GROUP / Customer |
|
08 |
Shipping Invoice |
SMP GROUP/Supplier |
