Vietnam has notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of a draft decree, which will introduce new rules for the manufacture, sale and import of biocidal products.
The decree is expected to be adopted on 20 May and become effective from 1 July.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Health says the new law, Decree on Regulating the Management of Chemicals, Insecticides and Disinfectants, Used in Households and for Health Purposes, aims to regulate the full lifecycle of products with biocidal purposes.
All products will have to be notified and granted a licence, prior to being introduced to the market. This includes imports, new and existing products or active substances, as well as any that have changed formulation.
Each notification must include:
the business licence of the applicant;a certificate of free sale;testing results for content and composition of the product;relevant technical documents regarding the product and/or active ingredient;a sample label in Vietnamese;copies of documentation and testing results, submitted to other jurisdictions for products already registered or notified in other countries; andany other available data for products, or those containing active ingredients, that are introduced to the Vietnamese market for the first time, or those with hazardous properties.
Testing must be done for efficacy and safety "in accordance with the existing laws and regulations", the decree states. But consultancy 3E Company says the national technical Regulation on testing is likely to be revised, once the draft decree, as well as another draft Regulation on insecticide testing requirements, are finalised.
Imports for personal use, research, or non-commercialised purposes may be exempted from the testing data requirements, if shipped in quantities below 50kg, according to the new law. At 50kg or above, the importer must prove that the products comply with GMP or ISO standards and have been registered in another jurisdiction.
The draft decree also introduces labelling rules, according to the UN's Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of classification and labelling of chemicals. Labels on products already in circulation will not have to be changed to comply with the new rules.
According to 3E, the draft decree mirrors a move to stricter regulation of household and consumer products in Asia. "It also reflects the trend of countries, extending GHS requirements to the consumer products sphere," it says.
Thailand has begun requiring GHS labelling for household products (AsiaHub 22 April 2015), and New Zealand is considering the same for consumer products (AsiaHub 4 December 2014). Earlier this year, Pakistan also proposed GHS labelling for certain imports of hazardous chemicals.
Source: https://chemicalwatch.com
Keywords: Vietnam, to introduce, biocides law, this year
