Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long, at the government’s legislative session on February 20, urged relevant ministries to incorporate feedback and expedite the finalisation of drafts for submission and presentation in May. One of the seven draft laws discussed at the meeting was the revised Law on Product and Goods Quality.

Based on this timeline, manufacturers expressed concerns that if the draft is approved by the National Assembly, it will cost perhaps millions of US dollars in unnecessary procedures, impacting their business plans in Vietnam.

“Current regulations on goods quality are already stricter than those of the most advanced countries, such as the United States, EU, Japan, and South Korea. For example, in Vietnam, providing traceability codes and electronic labels is a compulsory requirement to conduct additional registration procedures to meet regulations, while according to international practice, these works are only encouraged,” said Le Xuan Rao, chairman of the Hanoi Union of Science and Technology Associations.

“Meanwhile, the regulations to prove the goods’ quality mentioned in the draft law are even stricter, doubling the pressure on manufacturers in several sectors, such as home appliances, livestock, and food and beverage,” he added.

Several Japanese manufacturers sent a document to the Japan External Trade Organization in the past few months to report the unnecessary responsibility of deciding and announcing the quality level of products produced and supplied, as well as selecting a conformity assessment organisation to test, inspect, appraise, and certify the quality of products and goods.

“Normally, a product model has a life cycle of only three to six months, in which the production and export process usually takes one to two months, but according to the draft regulations, businesses will spend three to eight months on this process. Thus, they may become outdated products even before they debut on the market,” the document said.

These disadvantages impact their business and investment plans in Vietnam. “Wasting too much time on unnecessary work will prevent manufacturers from staying on schedule and delivering goods to customers as per contracts and orders. Failure to meet these commitments results in fines, loss of customers, reduced revenue and profit, and fewer jobs. This negatively impacts not only the enterprise but also the state budget,” said the representative of a Japanese-invested company in Vietnam.

It also hinders the maintenance of investment activities, affects export turnover, and has a negative impact on the national economy because exports play an important role, accounting for about 16 per cent of Vietnam’s GDP on average over the past five years.

“If this situation continues, our parent company may have to close the factories in Vietnam and move production to other countries,” the representative added.

To support the business community in resolving their concerns, the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations has proposed various solutions.

“This is a superb opportunity to remove shortcomings. The business community and associations propose removing the form of product conformity declaration to facilitate production and business activities,” said association chairman Phan Xuan Dung.