Vietnam: New Chemicals Law and Threshold Values for Formalde-hyde and Azo Colorants

Vietnam has approved a new chemicals law. Decree No. 113/2017/ND-CP (only in Vietnamese) took effect on November 25, replacing the previous law, No. 108/2008/ND-CP. The Vietnam Law & Legal Forum issued a notification of the new law at the end of October.

At the International Chemical Management Conference at the beginning of November, a government spokesperson gave an overview of the new law. It includes new requirements for the bottling and packaging of chemicals. Furthermore, it defines clear criteria for each list of chemicals (Annex I to Annex V) related to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). The list of toxic chemicals has been abolished, as is the requirement to register the use of chemicals. You can find detailed information on the new law here.

In addition, the Vietnamese Ministry for Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the Vietnamese General Department of Customs have created an electronic declaration system for imported chemicals. With the new system,

Vietnam seeks to simplify, accelerate, and, above all, avoid all errors in import and approval processes. In the future, companies must use the electronic declaration window defined in Article 27 of Decree 113/2017/ND-CP to declare their chemicals. Companies can register at the government’s Web site (only in Vietnamese).

The MoIT has also set threshold values for formaldehyde and azo colorants in textiles. The Ministry has published a notification (only in Vietnamese) on the law. The new regulations take effect in May 2019, and define the following thresholds:

• 30mg/kg in textile products for children under three;
• 75mg/kg in textile products in direct contact with the skin;
• and 300mg/kg in textile products with no direct skin contact.

The law also sets the threshold for 22 aromatic amines at 30 mg/kg. Amines are a component of azo colorants.

The new law has been published as Number 21/2017/TT-BCT: The national technical regulation on the content of formaldehyde and certain aromatic amines derived from azo colourants in textile products.

If you import products into or export products from Vietnam, we are happy to answer any of your questions at reach@kft.de.