Vietnam proposes tougher penalties and new food safety law

The Ministry of Public Security has drafted an amendment to Vietnam’s Criminal Code that would add a new article 193a, allowing imprisonment of up to 12 years for individuals who knowingly produce or sell food, food additives, or animal feed that falls below 70 % of published quality standards. Penalties range from fines of VND 50‑200 million and up to two years of non‑custodial reform to prison terms of three to twelve years, depending on the value of the goods, the profit obtained and whether the act was organized or repeated. The draft is slated for consideration by the National Assembly at its first extraordinary session in August.

Separately, the Ministry of Health is preparing a revised Food Safety Law that shifts oversight from a step‑by‑step approach to whole‑supply‑chain risk management. The proposal calls for mandatory adoption of international safety systems such as HACCP, ISO 22000 or FSSC 22000 for producers, and allows facilities that already meet these standards to forgo a separate safety‑certificate. It also expands the powers of regulators to conduct market sampling, enforce post‑market monitoring, and apply risk‑based registration for high‑risk products while simplifying rules for ordinary foods. Both drafts aim to strengthen consumer protection amid the growth of e‑commerce and modern supply‑chain models.