Specialized Sector management: bottlenecks need to be removed

The unit coordinated sampling of import and export goods at Da Nang port. Photo: N.Linh.

The exempted goods must be also checked

In the case of Trieu Nhat Co., Ltd., - Long Binh Fruit Cake Holder, importing large quantities of raw materials from China for producing domestically consumed products, exempted from self-proclaimed products and exempt from state inspection on food safety. Consumers are not afraid of the quality of the moon cake which comes from raw materials from China.

Why are 11 tons of raw materials imported by this company exempted from steps of quality management?

According to Clause 2, Article 4, Clause 7, Article 13 of Decree No. 15/2018 / ND-CP, "products and raw materials for production or import shall be used only for production or processing of export goods or for internal production of organizations and individuals not consumed in the domestic market" are exempted from carrying out procedures for self-declaration of products, exemption from state inspection of imported food safety.

At the conference "Disseminating Decree No. 15/2018 / ND-CP detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety held in Ho Chi Minh City on 6 March 2018, Nguyen Thanh Phong- the director of the Food Safety Department, the representative of the specialized agency on food safety under the Ministry of Health stated: Import materials are used to produce products, export or serve for internal production of the group and individuals, including not consumed and consumed goods in the domestic market are not subject to state inspection and enterprises do not need to self-publish the quality of goods. When importers declare, they are responsible for the purpose of importing products, raw materials, with a commitment not to import products and raw materials for direct consumption in the domestic market.

On that basis, on 9/3, the General Department of Customs has written instructions to the local customs unit to implement. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance also exchanged documents with the ministries on the above-mentioned contents and agreed with the contents of the guidelines.

However, the fact is that enterprises have imported a lot of raw materials to produce domestically consumed products exempted from self-proclaimed products and exempted from state inspection on real safety as the case of Trieu Nhat Co., Ltd.

In order to clarify the regulations on products and raw materials imported for internal production of organizations and individuals, the Ministry of Finance has recently proposed three direct ministries: Health, Industry and Commerce and Agriculture. Rural development has specific comments.

To ensure compliance with the provisions of Decree 15/2018 / ND-CP, preventing enterprises from taking advantage of regulations exempted state inspection of food safety to import products, raw materials for consumption. In the domestic market, the Ministry of Finance said that products and raw materials imported directly by the importer for production (including production for export, processing for foreign partners or for internal production of organizations and individuals that are not consumed in the domestic market) are exempted from self-declaration of products, exempted from state inspection of imported food safety. When importing, enterprises declare to be responsible for the purpose of importing products, raw materials, commitment not to import products, raw materials for production for consumption in the domestic market.

However, for products and raw materials that are imported directly by the enterprises to produce products and goods for domestic consumption (domestic consumption), they are not exempted procedure from self-employment product release, exempt from state inspection of imported food safety.

Many texts need to be revised

That is just one of the many shortcomings existing in the legal documents of specialized management for export goods.

Decision No. 1254 / QD-TTg of the Prime Minister approving the Action Plan to promote the National Single Window, ASEAN Single Window, reform of specialized inspection for export and import goods and trade facilitation in the period of 2018-2020, 30 legal documents on management and specialized inspection must be amended and supplemented.

In that, although a number of documents have even been issued and had effectiveness in recent times, the Prime Minister also requested amendments. For example, Decree No. 113/2017 / NĐ-CP dated 9/10/2017 regulating chemical management, the Ministry of Industry and Trade researches and submits to the Government for amendment and supplementation of Decree No. 113/2017 / ND-CP. Direction: In cases where a mixture of chemicals containing industrial precursors is required to be imported, it must be specified in the Decree and a list of specific substances containing pre-substances containing import precursors must be obtained. Include the code of document to have legal basis for the units to implement comparison and to implement synchronously.

As Decision No. 24/2018 / QD-TTg dated 28/5/2018, Decision 04/2017 / QD-TTg dated March 9, 1977, on minimum energy efficiency requirements, merchants do not require businesses to submit documents related to inspection and assessment of energy efficiency, including energy efficiency check registration certified by the authorities and designated by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce which assign the customs officer; the managing agencies of the goods being circulated on the market to inspect the observance of law provisions on goods subject to the minimum energy efficiency test of enterprises.

The action plan of the Prime Minister also guides the amendment and supplementation of Decree No. 74/2018 / ND-CP dated 15 May 2018 (amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 132/2008 / ND-CP of December 31, 2008, detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Product and Goods Quality), along the direction of amending the regulation on exemption of announcement of technical regulation conformity and quality inspection in Decree No. 74 / 2018 / ND-CP as stipulated in the Decree No. 15/2018 / ND-CP, thereby supplementing the regulations on exemption of quality control for imported goods as raw materials for production of goods for domestic consumption. The Ministry of Science and Technology will assume the prime responsibility for urging ministries and branches to promulgate lists of group-2 goods together with the appropriate inspection mode prescribed in Clause 3, Article 1 of Decree No. 74/2018 / ND-CP; Studying the appropriate management mechanism does not require enterprises to submit inspection registers with certification by the inspection agency for customs clearance.