Import Functional foods into Vietnam

With many years of experience in handling importing Functional foods, in this article, Logistics HP Global summarizes the contents related to importing Functional foods into Vietnam: Vietnam’s governmental management policy on importing Functional foods; Import procedures for Functional foods; Taxes on importing Functional foods;… …

HS code of Functional foods

In order to properly determine policies, procedures of the  import, one of the first thing needed to determine is the HS code of the commodity

Functional foods’s HS code Chapter 21: MISCELLANEOUS EDIBLE PREPARATIONS

2106	Food preparations not elsewhere specified or included.
21069071	– – – Food supplements based on ginseng
21069072	– – – Other food supplements
21069073	– – – Fortificant premixes

However, note that liquid health food, HS code  2202 can be applied

This is announced in Circular No. 7183 / TCHQ-TXNK dated November 2, 2017 of the General Department of Customs on the classification of items declared “Liquid health protection food”, in which: “Case identify liquid or packaged food supplements / supplements (e.g. water, plant extracts, sugar, vitamins, etc.), liquid, ready-packed to be drunk, not further diluted, not containing alcohol or containing no more than 0,5% by volume, calculated by volume  belong to the group 22.02 “Water, including mineral water and aerated water, added with sugar or other sweeteners or flavorings, and other non-alcoholic beverages, excluding fruit or vegetable juices of heading 20.09 “, subheading 2202.90” – Other: “, HS code No. 2202.90.30 “- – Other non-carbonated beverages ready to use without dilution”, Do not depend on dosage dosage.

The classification of a product to a certain HS code is based on the nature, composition, …. of the actual imported commodity at the import time, based on catalogue, technical documents (if any) or /and decided by the Customs Department of Commodity Verification. The actual inspection results of the Customs and announcement by the Customs Department of Commodity Verification are legal basis for applying HS code to imported good. Importers are ultimately responsible for ensuring that the products are correctly classified.

Our above advised HS codes are for reference only.

For more information about this content, please refer to the article Definition of HS code in Vietnam

Ban on import, export

According to the current regulation, Functional foods is not in the List of prohibited imports into Vietnam, so the enterprise can do the import procedure pursuant to current stipulations.

For more information, read the article List of prohibited imports into Vietnam

Import procedure into Vietnam of Functional foods

Governmental management on Functional foods

Functional foods under specialized management of the Ministry of Health.

When importing functional foods, the goods must be declared and checked for quality.

Customs procedure of import Functional foods into Vietnam

Because of the above-mentioned commodity policy, when carrying out customs procedures for importing functional foods, in addition to the usual records, businesses need to submit a declaration and a certificate of quality inspection (or documents proving to be under exempted from quality inspection)

Label for import Functional foods

Imported goods must have adequate labels according to current regulations with the following minimum contents: goods names; Name and address of the manufacturer; Origin of goods; Model, commodity code (if any).

In addition to the general provisions on labels above, Decree 43/2017 / ND-CP dated April 14, 2017 on goods labels contains provisions that must be shown on labels of health food products. (Point 3, Appendix I) includes the following contents:

a) Quantity;

b) Date of manufacture;

c) Expiry date;

d) Ingredients, ingredient quantities or nutritional value;

d) Instructions for use, instructions for storage;

e) Disclosure of recommendations on risks (if any);

g) Write the phrase: “Health protection food”;

h) Write the phrase: “This food is not a medicine, has no effect replacing medicine.

Normally, the import of a shipment consists of 07 stages: Before signing the contract, signing the contract, payment, delivery, customs clearance, receipt of goods and after clearance

Cost and time for importing Functional foods

Cost for importing cargo related to transportation and customs clearance are mainly contributed by two main factors: Tax and shipping costs

Taxes on importing Functional foods

When importing Functional foods, the importer needs to pay import duties and value added tax (VAT).

VAT on Functional foods:  10%.

According to the HS, if HS 2106, the import tax is 15%; If HS 2202, the import tax is 30%

In the case of functional foods imported from countries with free trade agreements with Vietnam, they may enjoy special preferential import duties.

Shipping cost and import time

Shipping costs and transportation time are closely related. Depending on the nature of the commodity and requirement of the shipment, international transportation mode can be by sea, air, road, rail and express delivery. The enterprise should consider to make the most appropriate decision.

For more detailed advice on import procedures, shipping methods and full estimates for the entire shipment, please contact our customer service department by email info@ hpgloballtd.com or hotline  ++84 8 8611 5726.

Hp Global Company Limited

Freight forwarder and Customs Brokerage

Room 2308, CT2 Van Khe, La Khe, Ha Dong, Hanoi

Website: hptoancau.com

Email: info@hptoancau.com

Phone: 024 73008608 / Hotline: 08 8611 5726