Decree No. 178/2013/ND-CP dated November 14, 2013 of the Government on sanction of administrative violations on food safety

 THE GOVERNMENT

Decree No. 178/2013/ND-CP dated November 14, 2013 of the Government on sanction of administrative violations on food safety

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of Government;

Pursuant to the June 20, 2012 Law on handling of administrative violations;

Pursuant to the June 17, 2010 Law on food safety;

At the proposal of Minister of Health,

The Government promulgates Decree on sanction of administrative violations on food safety.

Chapter 1.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

1. This Decree provides acts of administrative violations, sanctioning forms and levels, remedial measures, the authority to make minutes of administrative violations and authority to sanction administrative violations on food safety.

2. Administrative violations on food safety regulated in this Decree include:

a) Violations of regulations on conditions for safety assurance for food products;

b) Violations of regulations on the conditions for food safety assurance during the food production and trading;

c) Violations of regulations on safety conditions for imported and exported food;

d) Violations of regulations on information, education, communications about food safety; testing food; analyzing risks, prevention and remedy of food safety incidents; tracing the origins, recall and disposal of unsafe food.

3. Other acts of administrative violations related to food safety which are regulated in Decrees on sanctioning administrative violations on veterinary, fishery, standards, measurement and quality, commerce, culture, sport, tourism and advertisement, labor and other sectors shall be sanctioned administratively according to those respective Decrees. 

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. Vietnamese individuals and organizations; foreign individuals and organizations committing acts of administrative violations on food safety on Vietnam’s territory.

2. Persons competent to make minutes, to sanction administrative violations and other relevant individuals and organizations.

Article 3. Sanctioning forms and remedial measures

1. For each acts of administrative violations on food safety, the infringing individuals and organizations must suffer one of forms of principal sanction including warning or fine.

2. Depending on nature and extent of violations, individuals and organizations committing administrative violations on safety food may be applied one or many forms of additional principal sanction as follows:

a) Deprivation of the right to use certificate of facility eligible for food safety for a defined time or suspension of operation for a defined time;

b) Confiscation of material evidences and means used to commit administrative violations on food safety.

3. Apart from forms of the principal sanction, additional sanction, organizations and individuals that commit administrative violations may also be applied one or some of remedial measures specified in Points d, dd, e, g and h Clause 1 Article 28 of Law on handling of administrative violations and the following remedial measures:

a) Forcible examination on veterinary hygiene for products of terrestrial animals which have not yet checked veterinary hygiene before being produced or processed into food;

b) Forcible change of use purpose for the infringed goods;

c) Forcibly cancelling the testing result which is performed from food samples which are fraudulently exchanged or to forged, or reports of testing result which are issued in contravention with regulations;

d) Forcible destruction of the forged papers;

dd) Forcible payment for all costs to handle food poisoning, cost for medical examination and treatment for persons suffer food poisoning in cases of occurring food poisoning.   

Article 4. Provisions on fine levels, competence to sanction for individuals and organizations 

1. The maximum fine level imposed for each act of administrative violation on food safety shall be VND 100,000,000 applicable to individuals and VND 200,000,000 applicable to organizations, except for case defined in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. If after applying the maximum fine level of the fine bracket as prescribed at Clauses 4, 5 and 6 Article 5, Clause 6 Article 6; Clause 3 Article 7; point d and point dd Clause 5, points b, c and d Clause 6 Article 16; Clause 4 Article 26 of this Decree, it is still fewer than 3.5 times of total food value infringed (for the infringing individuals) or fewer than 07 times of total food value infringed (for the infringing organizations), it is permitted to apply the fine level which will be equal to 3.5 times of total food value infringed at time of violation for individuals or 07 times of total food value infringed at time of violation for organizations.    

3. The fine levels defined in Chapter 2 of this Decree are fine levels applicable to individuals.  The fine level for a same administrative violation committed by an organization shall be equal to twice of the fine level imposed for an individual.

4. The authority to sanction by fines of titles defined in Chapter 3 of this Decree is authority applied to one act of administrative violation committed by individuals. In case of fine, the authority to fine on organizations shall be equal to twice authority to sanction on individuals.