Re: Response to Official Letter No. 925/GM-BTP dated October 8, 2025, from the Ministry of Justice regarding participation in the appraisal meeting for the Draft Decree Detailing the Implementation of a Number of Articles of the Law on Quality of Products and Goods and the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Quality of Products and Goods, and Stipulating Product Labels (Appraisal Version) (hereinafter referred to as the Draft), the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), based on feedback from enterprises, submits the following comments:

Ensuring Consistency among Legal Regulations

The law on quality of products and goods regulates quality management for all products and goods falling under the jurisdiction of all ministries and sectors, thus having a very broad and diverse scope of adjustment. This necessitates ensuring consistency between the Law and the Draft Decree detailing its implementation, and between the provisions of this document and the management documents issued by specialized ministries.

Firstly, ensuring consistency between the Law and the Draft Decree regarding the digital passport (hộ chiếu số) provision in Article 33 of the Draft is inconsistent with the Law. Article 6đ.2 of the Law Amending the Law on Quality of Products and Goods 2025 stipulates that barcodes, traceability, electronic labels, and digital passports are technological applications in the quality management of products and goods. The State only encourages the application of these technologies, and does not mandate it (except for traceability for high-risk goods). However, the way the provisions in the Draft are designed seems unclear about this direction of encouragement, leading to an understanding that the application is mandatory. Specifically, Clause 4, Article 33 of the Draft stipulates that the roadmap for applying digital passports to products will be based on the Prime Minister's approval. This provision does not clearly demonstrate the non-mandatory, encouragement nature required by the Law. According to feedback from enterprises, requiring the application of digital passports to standardized items and Vietnam's key commodities will increase the administrative burden without clear benefits.

Therefore, recommendation: Amend the provision to only encourage the application of digital passports.

Thirdly, regarding inconsistency between the Draft and other documents, Clause 2, Article 22 of the Draft requires enterprises applying barcodes and traceability to comply with the provisions of the Draft. The content is nearly identical to the regulations in Circular No. 02/2024/TT-BKHCN.

However, these provisions risk inconsistency and overlap with other traceability regulations issued by specialized Ministries, such as Circular No. 25/2019/TT-BYT (Ministry of Health) and Circular No. 17/2021/TT-BNNPTNT (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development). Furthermore, according to enterprise feedback, the regulations in the Draft are not suitable for agricultural products characterized by low homogeneity across the entire chain. For example, applying traceability codes, data carriers, etc., to the preliminary processing and processing stages of livestock and aquatic products is not feasible. Requiring enterprises to apply two traceability systems simultaneously is redundant, increases the administrative burden, and the management objective is unclear.

Therefore, recommendation: Amend Clause 2, Article 27 of the Draft towards requiring enterprises to comply with specialized laws. The provisions of this Decree shall apply only if specialized laws have no corresponding regulations.

Product Labels (Nhãn hàng hoá)

Chapter IV of the Draft regulates product labeling. According to enterprise feedback, the provisions in the Draft still contain content that is not consistent with production and business activities. Details of these issues are presented in the Appendix attached to this Official Letter. Recommendation: Research and adjust these provisions to ensure compliance with international practices and facilitate production and business activities.

Origin of Exported Goods (Xuất xứ hàng hoá xuất khẩu)

Article 44 of the Draft stipulates that exported goods must bear the origin (xuất xứ) or the final stage of completion of the goods. Adjusting the labeling of goods origin is necessary to ensure information for consumers and prevent the fraudulent misrepresentation of origin for exported goods. However, for exported goods, this labeling must be handled with great caution as the goods serve the export market and must comply with the laws of the partner country. According to enterprise feedback, the provision as drafted will cause difficulties for enterprises when exporting goods to partners because the requirements of importing countries are highly varied and different from the Draft's regulations. Therefore, recommendation to the drafting agency: Amend the provision to allow enterprises to label goods in accordance with the regulations of the exporting country. The origin information must be truthful and accurate and comply with international commitments to which Vietnam is a party. Exporting enterprises shall be responsible for storing information and records for post-inspection purposes.

These are some aggregated comments from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the Draft Decree Detailing the Implementation of a Number of Articles of the Law on Quality of Products and Goods and the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Quality of Products and Goods, and Stipulating Product Labels (Appraisal Version). We sincerely hope that the distinguished Agency will consider these points for amendment and completion of this Draft.

Thank you for your cooperation./.