Nine months after a new food safety decree stranded more than 1,300 vehicles at Vietnam's borders (Vietnam Briefing, Feb 4), imported food still clears under the rules it was meant to replace, Decree 15/2018/ND-CP. Decree 46/2026/ND-CP, issued and effective on January 26, required document review of every lot and, in many cases, testing of every declared indicator (VnEconomy, Feb 5). Resolution 09/2026/NQ-CP suspended it on February 4, and Resolution 15/2026/NQ-CP of April 6 extended the suspension until the amended Food Safety Law and its implementing decree take effect (Nhân Dân, Apr 8).

Under Decree 15, products made in plants certified under food safety systems such as HACCP, ISO 22000, BRC, or FSSC 22000 qualify for reduced inspection, as do products that have passed three consecutive standard checks within 12 months. For those goods, customs randomly reviews documents on no more than 5% of shipments a year. Everything else gets a document check on every shipment, and lots that failed their last check or carry a safety warning are also sampled and lab-tested. Inputs imported solely for export production are exempt (Decree 15/2018/ND-CP).

The National Assembly ultimately decides how long Decree 15 lasts. The draft law Health Minister Đào Hồng Lan presented on October 24 would set out a roadmap for sorting foods into high- and low-risk categories and tie measures, including import inspection, to them (Thuế & Hải quan, Oct 24). Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn said it leaves open how risk will be analyzed and imports inspected, and wants both written into the law itself, citing the Decree 46 suspension as a fresh lesson (VNA, Oct 24). This session is for opinions only, and the reviewing committee's vice chair, Nguyễn Phương Tuấn, has said the bill is due to be considered for passage in May 2027 (Đại biểu Nhân dân, Sept 30). With an effective date and an implementing decree still to follow, Decree 15 will likely govern most of 2027.

Foreign suppliers should keep the certificates that earn reduced inspection current; Decree 15 accepts them only as certified copies or legalized originals. Since the Apostille Convention took effect for Vietnam on September 11, an apostille can replace legalization for papers from most member states, though not from Germany, Austria, or the Czech Republic, or from Thailand until February 28, 2027 (Vietnam's embassy in Nigeria, Sept 8). A private certifier's certificate generally needs notarizing first, and administrative documents tied directly to commercial or customs operations are excluded (Decree 293/2026/ND-CP), so suppliers should check with the inspecting agency before relying on an apostille.

The new law could also reward track records. Lan told deputies a database of firms' compliance and violation histories would guide how often they are inspected (VNA, Oct 24). For Vietnamese importers and processors, clearance times will hinge upon on whether the inspection method ends up in the law, as Mẫn wants, or in an implementing decree, the kind of instrument that jammed the borders within four days of taking effect in January.

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Mekong Brief is a biweekly newsletter on Vietnam trade policy, agricultural markets, and market entry intelligence. Subscribe at mekongbrief.com.

Published by Kimmi Võ, Mangrove Strategies.

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