Vietnam plans to revise its cosmetics legislation.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MoH) announced on December 13, 2023, that a new decree on cosmetics management is being drafted.

Background information

Currently, after more than 12 years of implementation of Circular No. 06/2011/TT-BYT and 7 years of implementation of Decree No. 93/2016/ND-CP, the evaluation report on law enforcement in the cosmetics industry shows that the regulations in the two aforementioned documents have resulted in several shortcomings that hinder and cause difficulties for management agencies affecting aesthetic management products as well as the production and trade of cosmetics within the enterprise. These shortcomings include the following:

•           Regarding cosmetic product announcement

•           Concerning cosmetic post-inspection work

•           Organization of cosmetic sampling for quality control

•           Concerning the production of cosmetics

Content of the new decree

The purpose of the drafting and implementation of this Decree is to swiftly remove barriers and challenges pertaining to law and policy, as well as to address real-world issues that come up in the context of Vietnam's rapidly expanding cosmetics industry.

It is expected that the draft Decree will contain 15 chapters and 63 articles related to 3 policies including:

Policy 1: Strengthen regulations on cosmetic product declaration to ensure uniformity in considering the declaration and use of cosmetic product in accordance with international practices and the ASEAN Cosmetic Harmonization Agreement.

Policy 2: Strengthen the post-inspection work on cosmetics management in accordance with the trend of the 4.0 revolution (the ongoing fourth industrial revolution marked by integration of digital technologies, automation, and artificial intelligence) and promote the use of information technology in the state management of cosmetics; streamline and simplifying administrative procedures, creating favorable conditions for businesses while ensuring consumers’ rights.

Policy 3: Improving the quality of domestically produced cosmetics.

The Draft Decree covers organizations and persons involved in the announcement, production, import, export, and trade of cosmetic products in Vietnam, as well as functional agencies involved in the management of cosmetics.