CIRCULAR

GUIDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRIME MINISTER’S DECISIONNo.178/1999/QD-TTg DATED AUGUST 30, 1999 ISSUING THE REGULATION ON THE LABELING OFDOMESTICALLY-CIRCULATED GOODS AS WELL AS EXPORT AND IMPORT GOODS WITH REGARD TO AQUATICGOODS

On August 30, 2000, the Prime Minister issued the Regulation on thelabeling of domestically-circulated goods as well as export and import goods together withDecision No.178/1999/QD-TTg.
On August 15, 2000, the Prime Minister issued DecisionNo.95/2000/QD-TTg adjusting and supplementing a number of contents of the Regulation onthe labeling of domestically-circulated goods as well as export and import goods.
Clause 2, Article 19 of the Regulation stipulates "The specializedbranch-managing ministries shall base themselves on their respective management functionsand concrete requirements regarding the use and preservation of particular goods items inthe branches under their management to provide detailed guidance on the labeling of suchparticular goods..."
In furtherance of the Regulation on the goods labeling, the Ministry ofAquatic Resources hereby guides in detail the uniform labeling of aquatic goods asfollows:

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The labeling of domestically-circulated aquatic goods as well asexport and import aquatic goods shall comply with the general provisions of the Regulationon the labeling of domestically-circulated goods as well as export and import goods(hereinafter called the Regulation for short) issued together with the PrimeMinister’s Decision No.178/1999/QD-TTg dated August 30, 1999 and Decision No.95/2000/QD-TTg dated August 15, 2000 and the Trade Ministry’s CircularNo.34/1999/TT-BTM guiding the implementation of the Prime Minister's DecisionNo.178/1999/QD-TTg dated August 30, 1999 (hereinafter called Circular No.34 for short).

2. Scope of regulation

The following groups of aquatic goods with commercial packings shall belabeled according to the provisions of this Circular before being put into circulation:

a/ Processed foodstuffs of aquatic animal or plant origin or composedof typical constituents being aquatic animals or plants (hereinafter called as aquaticfoodstuffs for short).

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c/ Aquatic raw materials for production of feeds andindustrially-processed feeds used for aquaculture (hereinafter called raw materials andfeeds for short).

d/ Drugs, chemicals and bio-preparations used for aquatic animals andplants (hereinafter called drugs, chemicals and bio-preparations).

e/ Fishing nets (including nets, net-weaving yarn and net-fixing ropes(hereinafter called fishing nets for short).

3. For goods being export aquatic foodstuffs, the labelingapplicable to the following compulsory contents may be negotiable according to therequirements of the importing markets:

a/ The composition.

b/ The preservation duration, the expiry date.

c/ Preservation and use instructions.

II. CONTENTS OF GOODS LABELS

A. COMPULSORY CONTENTS

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1.1. Goods appellation:

a/ The way of inscription shall comply with the general provisions inClauses 1, 2 and 3, Article 6 of the Regulation and the branch’s standards.

b/ For products prescribed in Clause 4, Article 6 of the Regulation,their goods appellations must truly describe the packed aquatic foodstuffs, including thefollowing contents:

- The name of the aquatic animal species or plant (for example, frozendong co fish in fillets ) or the names describing the characteristics and utilities of thegoods (for example, Frozen crab rolls... ).

- The goods processing technology: Frozen, dried, canned,.., forexample, Frozen dong co fish in fillets.

- The goods' processing form: Not shelled (HOSO), shelled (PUD, PD), infillets, slices, rolls,... For example: frozen crab rolls.

1.2. Names and addresses of the traders responsible for the goods:

a/ Being the names and addresses inscribed in their business operationregistration.

b/ For aquatic foodstuff-manufacturing establishments, the content tobe inscribed shall be: Manufactured at (name and address of the establishment), or:Product of (name and address of the establishment).

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d/ For establishments repacking aquatic foodstuffs for sale, thecontent to be inscribed shall be: Product of (name and address of the establishment),packing establishment (name and address of the establishment), or: Product of (name andaddress of the establishment), packed at (name and address of the establishment).

1.3. Goods quantification:

The way of inscription shall comply with the provisions in Article 8 ofthe Regulation and Section II.A.3 of Circular No.34.

1.4. Constituents:

a/ For aquatic foodstuffs not prepared with other mixtures nor usingprocessing additives, their constituents shall not be compulsorily inscribed.

b/ For aquatic foodstuffs prepared with constituents other than aquaticproducts, their principal constituting raw materials used in the technologies to producesuch aquatic foodstuffs must be inscribed (aquatic raw materials, other mixedconstituents).

c/ For aquatic foodstuffs using processing additives, the names of theadditives’ groups and the names or international codes (in brackets) of the additivesmust be clearly inscribed. Particularly for additives being "spices","sweeteners", "colorings", their names must be clearly added with"natural", "artificial" or "synthetic".

d/ For aquatic foodstuffs manufactured with the genetic technology orhaving one of their constituting raw materials created with the genetic technology theVietnamese words "Co su dung cong nghe gen" (With the use of genetic technology)must be inscribed on their labels.

e/ For aquatic foodstuffs or one of their constituting raw materialsmanufactured, processed and/or preserved with radiation techniques, the Vietnamese words"Thuc pham chieu xa'' (Radiated foodstuffs) or a sign indicating radiated foodstuffaccording to international regulations that Vietnam has announced for application must beinscribed on their labels.

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The way of inscription shall comply with the general provisions inArticle 10 of the Regulation and Section II.A.5 of Circular No.34.

1.6. Production date, preservation duration and expiry date.

The way of inscription shall comply with the provisions in Article 11of the Regulation and Section II.A.6 of Circular No.34.

1.7. Preservation and use instructions

a/ The contents to be inscribed shall comply with the generalprovisions in Article 12 of the Regulation. In addition, a number of the followingcontents must be additionally inscribed: Special users (for example for use by dieters),and the usage (for example, instant or cooked before serving).

b/ For aquatic foodstuffs requiring certain preservation conditions,the contents to be inscribed shall be criteria that affect the utilities, quality andsafety of such products.

For example: For dried goods, "keep in cool place" shall beinscribed.

1.8. Goods' origin:

For export and import aquatic foodstuffs, the names of countries oforigin must be clearly inscribed on their labels according to the provisions in Article 13of the Regulation.

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2.1. Goods appellation:

a/ The way of inscription shall comply with the general provisions inArticle 6 of the Regulation and the branch's standards or scientific names.

b/ The names of the species of aquatic animal breeds or plant varietiesmust include their commercial names and scientific names.

For example: - For tom su, their appellation shall be inscribed as: Tomsu (Penaeus monodon).

- For rong cau chi vang, their appellations shall be inscribed as: Rongcau chi vang (Gracilaria asiatica).

c/ Particularly for cross-bred animal breeds, their appellations mustclearly state their cross-bred lines;

For examples:

- The name of the cross-bred animal breed. Carp V1.

- Cross-bred lines: Hungarian carp, Indonesian yellow carp andVietnamese white-scale carp.

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a/ Being the names and addresses inscribed in the business operationregistration.

b/ For breeding establishments or hatcheries, the content to beinscribed shall be: Manufactured at (name and address of the establishment), or: Productof (name and address of the establishment).

c/ For establishments collecting or netting natural breeds and/orvarieties for sale, the content to be inscribed shall be: Packing establishment (name andaddress of the establishment), or: Packed at (name and address of the establishment). Inaddition, for establishments netting natural breeds and/or varieties, the following detailmust be added: Place of netting natural breeds or varieties.

2.3. Goods quantification:

a/ For aquatic animal breeds, the content to be inscribed shall be:Quantity of individuals (animals).

b/ For Artemia eggs, the content to be inscribed shall be: Weight (g).

c/ For unicellular plant varieties, the content to be inscribed shallbe: Quantity of cells (cell).

d/ For pluricellular plant varieties, the content to be inscribed shallbe: Weight (kg).

2.4. Principal quality criteria:

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b/ For parental aquatic animals, the contents to be inscribed shall be:Weight (g) and breeding period.

c/ For Artemia eggs, the contents to be inscribed shall be : Number ofeggs/g and the hatching percentage (%).

d/ For aquatic plant varieties, the contents to be inscribed shall be:Length (cm), diameter of principal stem, and development period.

2.5. Production date, preservation duration and expiry date:

a/ For aquatic animal breeds and plant varieties:

- The production date shall be understood as the delivery date or thesale date, abbreviated to "NSX". For example: For those sold on April 2, 2000,their production date shall be inscribed as: NSX 020400.

- The expiry date and preservation duration shall not be compulsorilyinscribed.

b/ For Artemia eggs:

- The production date shall be understood as the date the products arecanned, abbreviated to "NSX".

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- The preservation duration, abbreviated to "HBQ".

For example : The preservation duration until May 10, 2000 shall beinscribed as: HBQ 100500.

- The expiry date shall not be compulsorily inscribed.

2.6. Preservation and use instructions:

a/ For aquatic animal breeds and plant varieties, there must beguidance for users on the codes of the branch’s standards or titles of thealready-publicized technical documents on the way of transporting and stocking breeds orvarieties.

b/ For Artemia eggs, the contents to be inscribed shall include: Eggpreservation conditions (temperature, humidity), brief instructions on the egg broodingand hatching.

2.7. Goods' origin:

For export and import aquatic animal breeds and plant varieties, thenames of countries of origin must be clearly inscribed on their labels according to theprovisions in Article 13 of the Regulation.

3. Raw materials and feeds:

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The way of inscription shall comply with the general provisions inArticle 6 of the Regulation and the branch’s standards. Besides, the names of thegoods items’ groups must clearly state the target users.

For example:

- Mixed feeds in pellets for shrimp,

- Feed for ornamental fishes,

- Feed for prawn larva ...

1.2. Names and addresses of the traders responsible for the goods:

a/ Being the names and addresses inscribed in the business operationregistration.

b/ For establishments manufacturing raw materials and feeds, thecontent to be inscribed shall be: Manufactured at (name and address of the establishment),or: Product of (name and address of the establishment).

c/ For establishments importing raw materials and feeds orestablishments acting as sale agents for foreign countries, the content to be inscribedshall be: Importing trader (name and address of the establishment), or: Agent trader (nameand address of the establishment).

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3.1. Goods quantification:

a/ For raw materials and feeds in form of powder, bits or pellets, thecontent to be inscribed shall be: Weight (g or kg).

b/ For raw materials and feeds in liquid form, the content to beinscribed shall be: Capacity (ml or liter).

3.4. Constituents:

a/ The contents shall be inscribed according to the general provisionsin Article 9 of the Regulation.

b/ The principal raw material constituents used in the technology tomanufacture such goods (for example: fish powder, shrimp powder, squid liver oil...).

c/ If the feeds contain non-nutritious substances for diseaseprevention and cure, the constituents of such non-nutritious substances must be alsoinscribed.

d/ If one of the raw materials has been radiated, or created with thegenetic technology, such must be inscribed on the goods labels according to internationalregulations that Vietnam has announced for application.

3.5. Principal quality criteria:

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b/ A number of principal quality criteria decisive to the quality ofraw materials and feeds shall be inscribed together with their quantities;

- For synthetic materials and feeds, the contents of the criteria ofprotein, lipid, ash, fiber, humidity and dissolubility, must be inscribed.

- For supplementary feeds, the quality criteria of supplementedsubstances shall be inscribed.

For example: For feeds supplemented with vitamins and minerals, anumber of major vitamin and mineral criteria must be inscribed.

3.6. Production date, preservation duration and expiry date:

The way of inscription shall comply with the provisions in Article 11of the Regulation and Section II.A. 5 of Circular No.34.

3.7. Preservation and use instructions:

a/ The contents to be inscribed shall be: preservation conditions(temperature, humidity, light) and way of feeding.

b/ For feeds the use of which is required to be discontinued beforegathering reared animals, the time for such discontinuation must be specified.

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For export and import raw materials and feeds, the names of countriesof origin must be clearly inscribed on the goods labels according to Article 13 of theRegulation.

4. Drugs, chemicals and bio-preparations:

4.1. Goods appellation:

The way of inscription shall comply with the general provisions inArticle 6 of the Regulation and the branch's standards. Besides, the goods appellationsmust include the names of the drugs, chemicals and main active substances.

For example: The drug's name: EM-55, main active substance:Erythomycine.

4.2. Names and addresses of the traders responsible for the goods:

a/ Being the names and addresses inscribed in the business operationregistration.

b/ For establishments manufacturing drugs, chemicals and/orbio-preparations, the content to be inscribed shall be: Manufactured at (name and addressof the establishment), or: Product of (name and address of the establishment).

c/ For establishments importing drugs, chemicals and/orbio-preparations or establishments acting as sale agents for foreign countries, thecontent to be inscribed shall be: Importing trader (name and address of theestablishment), or: Agent trader (name and address of the establishment).

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4.3. Goods quantification:

a/ For drugs in form of pellets, the contents to be inscribed shall be:quantity (pellets), weight of 1 pellet (mg).

b/ For drugs and bio-preparations in form of powder, the content to beinscribed shall be: Weigh (mg, g or kg).

c/ For drugs, chemicals and bio-preparations in the liquid form, thecontent to be inscribed shall be Capacity (ml or liter).

d/ For gonadotrophic drug for spawning fish (HCG), the content to beinscribed shall be in international unit (UI).

4.4. Constituents:

The chemical formulae and composition (excluding HCG) and othercontents shall be inscribed according to the general provisions in Article 9 of theRegulation.

4.1. Principal quality criteria:

The way of inscription shall comply with the general provisions inArticle 10 of the Regulation and Section II. A.5 of Circular No.34.

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The way of inscription shall comply with the general provisions inArticle 11 of the Regulation and Section II.A.6 of Circular No.34.

4.7. Preservation and use instructions:

a/ The contents to be inscribed shall include: preservation conditions(temperature, humidity, light) and the usage (dosage, concentration, time, to be usedunder what circumstances and for what objects, way of spraying...).

b/ For drugs the use of which is required to be discontinued beforegathering reared animals, the time for such discontinuation must be specified.

4.8. Goods’ origin:

For export and import drugs, chemicals and bio-preparations used inaquaculture, the names of countries of origin must be clearly inscribed on their labelsaccording to the provisions in Article 13 of the Regulation.

5. Fishing nets

5.1. Goods appellation

The way of inscription shall comply with the general provisions inArticle 6 of the Regulation and the branch's standards.

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5.1. Names and addresses of the traders responsible for the goods:

a/ Being the names and addresses inscribed in the business operationregistration.

b/ For establishments manufacturing fishing nets, the content to beinscribed shall be: Manufactured at (name and address of the establishment), or: Productof (name and address of the establishment).

c/ For establishments importing fishing nets or establishments actingas sale agents for foreign countries, the content to be inscribed shall be: Importingtrader (name and address of the establishment), or: Agent trader (name and address of theestablishment).

d/ For establishments repacking fishing nets for sale, the content tobe inscribed shall be: Product of (name and address of the establishment), packingestablishment (name and address of the establishment), or: Product of (name and address ofthe establishment), packed at (name and address of the establishment).

5.3. Goods quantification:

a/ For nets, the contents to be inscribed shall be: Size of stretchedlength and stretched width (m or number of meshes), weight (g or kg).

b/ For ropes, the contents to be inscribed shall be: Weight (kg) andlength (m).

c/ For yarn, the content to be inscribed shall be: Weight (g or kg).

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The way of inscription shall comply with the general provisions inArticle 9 of the Regulation. For example: Nylon yarn, catgut yarn, PE yarn...

5.5. Principal quality criteria:

a/ For nets, the contents to be inscribed shall be: color, crudeness(tex), dry durability (N-newton) and size of mesh 2a (mm).

b/ For yarn and ropes, the contents to be inscribed shall be: Diameter(win), crudeness (tex), dry durability (N-newton) and twistedness (twists/m).

5.6. Production date, preservation duration and expiry date:

The way of inscription shall comply with the general provisions inArticle 13 of the Regulation and Section II.A.6 of Circular No.34.

5.7. Preservation and use instructions:

a/ For goods being fishing nets, use instructions shall not becompulsorily inscribed.

b/ The preservation instructions must clearly state preservationconditions (temperature, humidity, light).

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For export and import fishing nets, the names of countries of originmust be clearly inscribed on their labels according to the provisions in Article 13 of theRegulation.

B. OPTIONAL CONTENTS

Apart from the contents compulsorily inscribed on the goods labels,traders may inscribe thereon other contents (if any) according to the provisions inArticle 14 of the Regulation, such as the product quality registration numbers, productquality standard codes, and in Section B of Circular No.34.

III. WAY OF DISPLAYING AND AFFIXING GOODS LABELS

1. The requirements and language for displaying goods labels foraquatic goods shall comply with the provisions in the Regulation and Circular No.34.

2. Goods labels that are in hand-written or printed forms,drawings, images or signs shall be displayed as follows:

2.1. For goods without outside packings: The labels shall be imprintedor embossed directly on the containing packings or affixed, stuck or pinned firmly on thegoods.

2.2. For goods with outside packings:

a/ The goods labels shall be imprinted or embossed directly on thecontaining packings or affixed, stuck or pinned firmly on the goods. It is necessary toinscribe only the goods' appellations or the entire contents of the goods labels on theoutside packings like on the containing packings. Or

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3. Where the goods are put up in small containing packings and theirlabels are not large enough for inscription of all compulsory contents, their labels shallbe inscribed as follows:

3.1. A number of key compulsory contents shall be inscribed on thegoods labels such as the goods appellation, name and address of the trader responsible forthe goods, the goods quantity, the expiry date and preservation duration.

3.2. The remaining compulsory contents and the optional contents (ifany) must be inscribed on the outside packings or in the enclosed explanations.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

1. The Ministry of Aquatic Resources shall coordinate with theMinistry of Trade in exercising the State management over the goods labeling according tothe Regulation.

2. The Science and Technology Department shall act as the key bodyassisting the Minister in performing the uniform State management over the labeling ofaquatic goods nationwide and coordinate with the Aquatic Resource Protection Departmentand the Center for Control of the Quality and Hygiene of Aquatic Products in guiding,organizing and directing the implementation of this Circular.

3. The specialized inspectorate shall have to supervise and inspectthe observance of legal documents on the goods labeling, detect, prevent and handleaccording to their competence or propose to the competent bodies to handle any violationsof the labeling of aquatic goods.

4. This Circular takes effect for implementation as from January 1,2001. Any supplements and amendments to this Circular shall be considered and decided inwriting by the Minister of Aquatic Resources.

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FOR THE MINISTER OF AQUATIC RESOURCES
VICE MINISTER




Nguyen Viet Thang