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MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE OF VIETNAM |
THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM |
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No. 11/2026/TT-BCT |
Hanoi, February 27, 2026 |
ON FOOD TRACEABILITY UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE
Pursuant to the Law on Food Safety No. 55/2010/QH12 amended by the Law on amendments to some articles concerning planning of 11 laws No. 28/2018/QH14;
Pursuant to the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights No. 19/2023/QH15;
Pursuant to the Law on Government Organization No. 63/2025/QH15;
Pursuant to Decree No. 46/2026/ND-CP of the Government elaborating some articles and measures for enforcement of Law on Food Safety;
Pursuant to Resolution No. 66.13/2026/NQ-CP of the Government on food product registration and declaration;
Pursuant to Decree No. 55/2024/ND-CP of the Government elaborating some articles of the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights;
Pursuant to Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP of the Government on elaborating some articles of the Law on Food Safety;
Pursuant to Decree No. 40/2025/ND-CP of the Government on functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam (amended by Decree No. 109/2025/ND-CP or Decree No.193/2025/ND-CP);
Pursuant to Resolution No. 09/2026/NQ-CP of the Government on suspension of effect and change of effective dates of Decree No. 46/2026/ND-CP dated January 26, 2026 of the Government elaborating some articles and measures for enforcement of the Law on Food Safety and Resolution No. 66.13/2026/NQ-CP dated January 27, 2026 of the Government on food product registration and declaration;
At the request of the Director General of Vietnam Industry Agency;
The Minister of Industry and Trade promulgates the Circular on food traceability under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
This Circular regulates food traceability activities, food traceability systems, and responsibilities of relevant organizations and individuals in food traceability activities under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in accordance with regulations in Appendix IV attached with Decree No. 46/2026/ND-CP.
1. This Circular applies to organizations and individuals engaging in production and trading food (hereinafter referred to as “establishments”) under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, relevant organizations and individuals.
2. This Circular does not apply to:
a) Imported food exempt from state inspection on food safety (except for cases with food safety warnings) in accordance with Article 19 of Decree No. 46/2026/ND-CP.
b) Food produced and processed by households or individuals for personal use and not for sale on the market.
For the purposes of this Circular, the terms below shall be construed as follows:
1. Food traceability is the process of tracking the formation and circulation of food.
2. A food product identification code is a sequence of numbers or alphanumeric characters representing the food production or import establishment that has completed providing the initial information of the food product on the Food Traceability Portal of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (hereinafter referred to as “Traceability Portal”).
3. A food traceability code is the final identification code in each stage of the traceability process (including a sequence of numbers or alphanumeric characters composed of the food product identification code; location code; event timestamp; batch/lot number or serial number), and is encoded in the data carrier presenting transparent and public information about the food product on the market and providing data to serve traceability.
4. A traceability event is an activity that changes the state, characteristics of the product, the storage or warehousing location, or the ownership of the product during the food production and trading process
5. The “one step forward, one step back” principle is the traceability principle where the establishment must store information for supervision and identification of both the previous and the next stages in the production and trading process of a food product subject to traceability.
Article 4. Application principles
1. Food traceability activities shall comply with the “one step forward, one step back” principle. Traceability information after each stage shall be encoded and identified by an appropriate method to serve traceability.
2. Information used for food traceability shall be regularly established and related data shall be fully archived in a database during production and trading process at the food production and trading establishment. The establishment shall use information extracted from an existing database created by the establishment in accordance with Article 5 of this Circular and other relevant sources when conducting traceability activities.
3. The connection of the database of the food production and trading establishment to the Food Traceability System of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (hereinafter referred to as “Traceability System”) shall comply with the roadmap prescribed in Article 15 of this Circular.
Article 5. Information about food traceability activities
1. Food production and trading establishments shall establish and fully archive relevant information to be ready for provision of the following information and documents about production and trading activities:
a) Name, address, contact information, and enterprise identification code of the food production and trading establishment;
b) Business registration certificate or enterprise registration certificate or other certificates as prescribed by laws on business registration;
c) Food safety eligibility certificate in cases where it is required to be issued.
2. Food production establishments shall establish and fully archive relevant information to be ready for provision of the following information and documents about food products:
a) Name and image of the product;
b) Brand, trademark, product code, and serial number (if any);
c) Food product identification code and traceability code (if any);
d) Information on packaging specifications, packaging materials, and ingredients in the food;
dd) Expiry date of the product for food required to have expiration date on the label;
e) Applied national standards, national technical regulations, international standards, regional standards, and internal standards;
g) Regulation conformity declaration attached with the regulation conformity certification result for food subject to technical regulations on quality or safety indicators; or standard declaration attached with test result accredited in accordance with standard ISO/IEC 17025 by a testing body for food without technical regulations on quality or safety indicators, or food for which there is no organization performing conformity assessment in accordance with corresponding national technical regulations as prescribed by laws on standards and technical regulations, or where conformity assessment methods are not available (if any);
h) Information about the weight, quantity, and batch/lot number of the product;
i) Location and time of traceability event conducted by the production establishment;
k) Name, address, contact information, and business identification codes of customers; agents; distributors; transportation, storage, warehouse units; raw material/semi-finished product suppliers (if any);
l) Information on batches/lots of raw materials and semi-finished products (name, weight, quantity, delivery time, expiration date, packaging material, additives); test results of raw material/semi-finished product batches/lots conducted by raw material/semi-finished product suppliers, the production establishment, or testing organizations (if any);
m) Test results of finished food product batches/lots conducted by the production establishment or testing organizations (if any).
3. Food trading establishments shall receive information and documents from food production establishments; regularly establish and fully archive relevant information to be ready for provision of the information and documents about food products as prescribed in points a, b, c, d, dd, e and g, clause 2 of this Article; and provide additional information on the location and time of traceability events conducted by the food trading establishment.
4. For imported food products, in addition to information prescribed in points a, b, c, d, dd, e and g, clause 2 of this Article, food trading establishments shall regularly establish and fully store archive information to be ready for provision of the following additional information:
a) Name, address, and contact information of the producer/exporter;
b) Name, address, contact information, and enterprise identification code of the importer;
c) Certificate of origin (C/O) or test results at the country of origin;
d) Information on the weight, quantity, and batch number of the imported shipment
5. For exported food products, food production and trading establishments shall conduct food traceability in accordance with the laws of the importing country. Foods that are both exported and circulated domestically in the Vietnamese market shall comply with regulations in this Circular.
6. Food production and trading establishments shall establish and archive databases at the establishment to summarize information and documents required in this Article in the form of electronic documents and relevant necessary data in accordance with regulations on provision and update of products on the Traceability System.
Article 6. Archive of dossiers and data for traceability
1. The minimum deadline for archive of dossiers and documents related to food traceability is 12 months from the expiration date for foods with a shelf life, and 60 months from the production date for foods not required to have expiration date on the label.
2. Food production and trading establishments shall ensure that they can provide dossiers and documents related to food traceability within 24 hours from the time a competent authority requests them.
Article 7. Food traceability activities of food production and trading establishments
1. Food production establishments shall conduct food traceability immediately when they supervise and detect unsafe food or violations, or at the request of competent state authorities in accordance with the following steps:
a) Based on initial information (product name, batch code, production date), identify relevant information of the food product batch to be traced;
b) Review production records and test reports of the food product batch to determine the cause;
c) Immediately contact the supplier(s) of raw materials/semi-finished products and packaging of the food product batch to request for relevant information;
d) Send urgent notifications to distributors and agents who have received the food product batch, to request for reports on quantities of sold and in stock products to carry out voluntary product recall;
dd) Analyze and determine the cause of the safety issue concerning the batch of food product to be traced;
e) Prepare a report on the results of the food traceability activities specifying the results on product recall and handling; causes and results of remedial measures in accordance with the Form in Appendix 1 attached to this Circular, and send it to competent authorities as prescribed by laws.
2. Food trading establishments are responsible for sending urgent notifications to food production establishments immediately upon detection of unsafe food, violations, or at the request of competent state authorities; and cooperating with food production establishments to conduct food traceability as prescribed in clause 1 of this Article.
Article 8. Supervision, inspection and handling activities of competent state authorities
During the inspection, supervision and handling process, if competent state authorities detect food violating laws on food safety, they shall send a written request to the food production and trading establishment to conduct food traceability in accordance with Article 7 of this Circular and issue a warning about the food found to be in violation on the Traceability Portal.
Article 9. Food traceability activities of consumers, other organizations and individuals
1. Consumers, other organizations and individuals are entitled to freely search and access the following basic information about food via the Traceability Portal or mobile application serving food traceability activities:
a) Name and image of the product;
b) Origin of the product according to the information recorded or declared by the establishment;
c) Name, address, contact information, and business registration code of the production or trading establishment;
d) Brand, trademark, product code, and serial number (if any);
dd) Expiry date of the product (if any);
e) Applied national standards, national technical regulations, international standards, regional standards, and internal standards.
2. In case of detecting food that is suspected to be unsafe, consumers, other organizations and individuals may report via the Traceability Portal or submit a written document to the Ministry of Industry and Trade or competent state authorities in accordance with the laws for timely verification and handling.
3. After competent state authorities conclude that the food does not comply with food safety regulations, the information shall be disclosed on the Traceability Portal.
Article 10. Traceability System
1. The Traceability System is an information technology system developed, managed and operated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade for collecting, archiving, processing and providing information to support food traceability including:
a) The Traceability Portal which is the sole centralized access point integrating information and services from multiple sources and displaying them uniformly to serve food traceability activities of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;
b) Specialized application for receiving, archiving and processing food data provided by food production and trading establishments, and serving data transmission and reception between related ministries and authorities regarding state management of food safety;
c) Application for summary, analysis and evaluation of categorized and processed data sources to support forecasting, policy planning, management and development of the sector of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;
d) Application serving food traceability on mobile devices.
2. The development, management, operation and use of the Traceability System shall comply with laws on the management, connection and sharing of digital data commonly used by state authorities; data security, cybersecurity; prevention of information abuse; protection of personal information, business secrets, and relevant laws.
Article 11. General technical requirements for the Traceability System
1. The provision and update of food traceability information on the Traceability System shall be carried out using electronic forms and documents.
2. The Traceability System shall operate in accordance with technical regulations on data structure, data format, data packets, connection and commonly-used data established and published by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
3. The Traceability System shall strictly comply with technical regulations and standards on data backup, redundancy and recovery mechanisms to ensure stable and continuous operation.
4. The Traceability System shall ensure management, access control, and data usage based on the roles of each level and entity. To be specific:
a) The central level including the Ministry of Industry and Trade and its affiliated units within their assigned functions and tasks have the rights to access, use and manage the entire system; and grant access permissions to other entities;
b) The local level including People’s Committees at all levels and their affiliated units within their assigned functions and tasks have the rights to access data related to their local areas and use reports for management purposes;
c) Food production and trading establishments have the right to provide, update, manage and used data related to food in their own traceability events;
d) Consumers, other organizations and individuals have the right to freely search basic food information on the Traceability Portal or traceability application in accordance with clause 1, Article 9 of this Circular.
5. The Traceability System shall be able to integrate, expand, and be ready to connect and share data in accordance with Article 14 of this Circular.
Article 12. Food traceability codes
1. Food production and import establishments shall provide basic information as prescribed in clause 1; and points a, b, c, d, dd, e and g, clause 2, Article 5 of this Circular on the Traceability Portal.
2. Food production and trading establishments shall update all new information related to traceability events in accordance with Article 5 of this Circular to the Traceability System within 24 hours from the occurrence of the traceability event.
3. After each traceability event, the new food information shall be updated and encoded into the food traceability code via specialized application of the Traceability System.
4. The food traceability code does not replace product or goods labels as prescribed by laws and the following requirements:
a) The food traceability code shall ensure data integrity, independent verification and traceability capability in accordance with technical requirements for the database. The food traceability code shall comply with national technical standards, regulations and requirements on data transmission and reception of competent authorities;
b) The use of the food traceability code shall ensure the ability to identify, connect and synchronize with the data system of the food trading establishment and the Traceability System;
c) The use of the food traceability code shall ensure safety, prevent forgery, duplication or misuse.
5. The Minister of Industry and Trade shall promulgate a list of food products to apply traceability forms suitable to the characteristics of each product group and type.
Article 13. Data carriers containing food traceability codes
1. The data carrier containing the food traceability code is a mean that encodes information or encodes a link to the food product data (such as barcode, QR code, Datamatrix, RFID, NFC, and other suitable methods). The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take charge and cooperate with relevant ministries and central authorities to design and issue standardized data carrier samples in accordance with laws on data carriers.
2. The data carrier containing the food traceability code shall be affixed, printed, attached, molded, embossed, engraved directly or by other appropriate forms on the food product, on/in the commercial packaging of the food product, or on other materials attached to the food product to ensure that the device can read the encoded data.
3. Food production and trading establishments shall decide the use of data carriers containing food traceability codes that are connected and activated with the Traceability System. Establishments are encouraged to use advanced data carriers (RFID, NFC, etc.) to enhance the transparency and effectiveness of the Traceability System.
4. Enterprises producing data carriers shall ensure the supply of data carriers in accordance with samples designed and issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade; regularly and continuously report the quantity of data carriers supplied to food production and trading establishments on the Traceability Portal.
5. The data carrier containing the food traceability code must be confirmed and activated by the Traceability System to ensure that the information is accurate and complete on reading devices or traceability application when consumers, other organizations and individuals scan the food traceability code to access information as prescribed in clause 1, Article 9 of this Circular.
6. Food production and trading establishments shall use data carriers in accordance with the roadmap prescribed in Article 15 of this Circular.
Article 14. Inter-sector data connection and sharing
1. The Traceability System is designed to connect, share and interoperate data with domestic and international database systems; the national platform for product and goods identification, authentication and traceability; systems for management of food safety of local governments and ministries including the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, relevant ministries and authorities to ensure synchronization, consistency, and avoid duplication.
2. Inter-sector data connection and sharing shall be conducted in accordance with the following principles:
a) Two-way data synchronization where the Traceability System provides data to serve management while receiving necessary data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade and relevant ministries and authorities;
b) Compliance with laws on information security, cybersecurity, data confidentiality and management authority by sector and region;
c) Declared data shall be reused for different state management purposes in accordance with the principle of “one-time declaration for multiple uses”.
3. Inter-sector data connection and sharing shall comply with the laws, cooperation agreements, and technical capabilities of involved parties to ensure effective support for state management.
Article 15. Roadmap for connecting information to the Traceability System
The connection and provision of food traceability information by food production and trading establishments to the Traceability System shall comply with the following roadmap:
1. Food production establishments shall connect and provide information to the Traceability System from December 1, 2026, except for small-scale food production and trading establishments.
2. Food import establishments shall connect and provide information to the Traceability System from March 01, 2027, except for small-scale food trading establishments.
3. Other food production and trading establishments are encouraged to connect and provide information to the Traceability System.
Article 16. Support for implementing food traceability
Food production and trading establishments connecting, sharing data, and providing food traceability information to the Traceability System shall be supported as follows:
1. Support on technology solutions:
a) Technical support and guidelines for connecting data to the Traceability System for food production and trading establishments that have developed and operated their own traceability system from October 01, 2026;
b) Support in providing synchronized solutions for electronic invoicing, invoice transfer, and tax statement at the request of food production and trading establishments.
2. Support on training and consulting:
a) Support for training and workshops on regulations and usage of the Traceability System for food production and trading establishments;
b) Establishment and maintenance of regular technical consulting and support channels (hotlines, online support groups, local support hubs) to answer questions and resolve issues for food production and trading establishments during implementation.
3. Support on communication and promotion:
a) Prioritize food production and trading establishments that comply with regulations on food traceability and data connection during the consideration and approval for participation in industrial promotion programs and other quality certification programs of the government and local authorities;
b) Prioritize support for communication and promotion of the application of food traceability on mass media and on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Article 17. Funding for implementation
1. The research, development and operation of the Traceability System shall be funded by::
a) State budget fund for science and technology, information technology application, and digital transformation;
b) Socialized resources in accordance with Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW dated December 22, 2024 of the Politburo on breakthrough development of science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation; Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW dated May 04, 2025 of the Politburo on private economic development;
c) Other legal sources in accordance with the laws.
2. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is the owner responsible for researching, developing and operating the Traceability System as prescribed in clause 1, Article 10 of this Circular including the technical infrastructure.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF AUTHORITIES, ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS
Article 18. Responsibilities of food production and trading establishments
1. Ensure sufficient resources (personnel, finance, technology, etc.) to effectively carry out food traceability activities; comply with the roadmap on food traceability issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
2. Establish and maintain the food database to serve traceability; archive and update complete information about food products, origin, ingredients, production, processing and trading processes to serve traceability in accordance with Article 5 of this Circular.
3. Be responsible for the timeliness, legality, honesty and accuracy of the data provided on the Traceability Portal; cooperate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (Vietnam Industry Agency) and relevant units in implementing and maintaining the data on the Traceability System.
4. Promptly submit necessary, complete and valid dossiers and documents at the request of state management authorities; strictly comply with traceability requests, decisions on product recall, and product handling issued by competent state authorities; and bear all costs of these activities.
5. Use data carriers containing assigned food traceability codes affixed or integrated onto products or product packaging in support of food traceability activities.
Article 19. Responsibilities of the Ministry of Industry and Trade
1. Vietnam Industry Agency shall:
a) Advise on the development and amendment of legislative documents on food traceability under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;
b) Take charge and cooperate with relevant units in developing the Traceability System; managing, operating and using the database of the Traceability System;
c) Take charge and cooperate with relevant units in organizing, providing guidelines on the application, disseminating, training and deploying activities related to food traceability as prescribed in this Circular;
d) Compile and report on the situation, results of implementation, difficulties and obstacles (if any) during the deployment and implementation of this Circular.
2. Other units affiliated to the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall cooperate with the Vietnam Industry Agency within their management scope, assigned functions and tasks in implementing this Circular.
Article 20. Responsibilities of People’s Committees of provinces and cities
1. Organize the implementation of this Circular and relevant guidelines in local areas; cooperate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (Vietnam Industry Agency) and relevant units in providing guidelines, disseminating, training and deploying activities related to food traceability in local areas; support food production and trading establishments, relevant organizations and individuals during the implementation of food traceability in local areas.
2. Before December 25 each year annually or upon request, consolidate and report on the situation and results of inspection and supervision regarding compliance with regulations on traceability, recall and handling of unsafe food by food production and trading establishments; difficulties, obstacles and recommendations (if any) during the implementation of this Circular in accordance with the Form in Appendix 2 attached to this Circular; and submit the report to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (Vietnam Industry Agency).
Article 21. Transitional provision
1. Food production and trading establishments that have developed and operated a traceability system before the effective date of this Circular shall continue to apply it, ensure connection and information provision in accordance with Article 15 of this Circular.
2. Food products that have been produced, imported and put into circulation before the time prescribed in Article 15 of this Circular are not required to comply with Article 13 and clause 5, Article 18 of this Circular.
3. If reference legislative documents in this Circular is amended or replaced, the newer documents shall prevail.
Article 22. Implementation clause
1. This Circular comes into force from April 16, 2026.
2. Shall any difficulty or obstacle arise during the implementation of this Circular, the Minister of Industry and Trade shall provide guidelines on handling specific cases, or amending this Circular in necessary cases./.
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PP. MINISTER Truong Thanh Hoai |
