Vietnam proposes 10-fold increase in food safety fines to crack down on violations

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health has proposed a drastic ten-fold increase in financial penalties for food safety violations, capping individual fines at VND1 billion ($38,000) and organizational fines at VND2 billion ($76,000).

The proposal is part of a sweeping draft amendment to the national Law on Food Safety aimed at tightening oversight from farm to table.

Under the current law, maximum administrative fines stand at just VND100 million ($3,800) for individuals and VND200 million ($7,600) for businesses.

Depending on the severity of the offense, violators would face administrative fines or criminal prosecution, along with mandatory compensation for damages and court-ordered remediation.

The draft also specifies that officials who abuse their positions to overlook or enable safety breaches will face disciplinary measures, criminal charges, and personal civil liability.

Risk-based inspections, streamlined border checks

The proposed overhaul shifts state inspection mechanisms toward a risk-based framework.

The government would establish clear criteria for four inspection tiers: strict, standard, reduced, and full exemption.

To reward high standards, facilities holding international or regional safety certifications—such as GlobalG.A.P., ASEAN GAP, HACCP, ISO 22000, and organic credentials—would automatically qualify for reduced inspection frequencies.

At border crossings, post-clearance checks would be strengthened using random sampling at prescribed rates.

To prevent supply chain bottlenecks, shipments could be cleared immediately without waiting for lab results; however, if a sample fails testing, authorities would trace the origin, isolate the product, and issue sanctions.

All inspection activities would be integrated into a unified national food safety database linking central and local authorities, tracking historical compliance records, lab results, and risk assessment data.

Strict bans on deceptive ads, contaminated ingredients

The draft introduces heavy restrictions on marketing, prohibiting food advertisements that feature medical facilities, healthcare workers, or patient testimonials.

It also explicitly bans advertising special medical foods and infant nutritional products intended for children up to 36 months old.

On the production front, the draft outlines strict prohibitions, forbidding: The use of non-food materials, expired ingredients, unauthorized additives, or chemicals of unknown origin; processing meat from animals that died of disease or unvetted causes; trading counterfeit, deteriorated, improperly labeled, or unregistered food products; transporting food in vehicles previously used for toxic substances unless rigorously decontaminated. 

Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen confirmed that the finalized draft will be submitted to the government by August 10.