According to the consolidated document of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the regulations on certifying fragrant rice varieties exported to the European Union are built on the basis of Decree No. 103/2020/ND-CP, and are amended and supplemented by Decree No. 11/2022/ND-CP and Decree No. 33/2026/ND-CP.
This regulation applies to organizations and individuals with activities related to certifying fragrant rice varieties exported to the EU within the framework of the EVFTA Agreement and exported to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland within the framework of the UKVFTA Agreement.
According to regulations, certified fragrant rice must be produced from fragrant rice varieties with seed quality suitable to national technical regulations. At the same time, the product must have clear information about the area and planting location such as groups, villages, wards, communes, districts, towns, provinces, and cities.
Notably, fragrant rice fields must be inspected and ensure the purity of the variety is no less than 95%. The inspection is carried out once within 20 days before harvesting.
Each fragrant rice field plot after inspection will be coded according to regulations. The testing organization of recognized plant varieties according to legal regulations will conduct the inspection of fragrant rice field plots.
The competent authority to certify, re-certify and cancel the certificate of fragrant rice variety is the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.
The dossier requesting certification of fragrant rice variety includes a certification request; a certificate form that has fully declared information; minutes of inspection of fragrant rice fields; documents agreeing to transfer inspection minutes in cases where organizations and individuals requesting certification are not named in the inspection minutes.
For dossiers submitted through the electronic environment, the dossier components must be declared and digitally signed on electronic forms. Within no more than 1 working day from the date of receipt of the dossier, the competent authority shall consider the completeness of the dossier components. If the dossier is incomplete, the functional agency will notify in writing the organization or individual.
Within 5 working days from the date of receipt of the valid dossier, the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection organizes appraisal and certification into the sample certificate of fragrant rice variety. In case of failure to certify, the functional agency must respond in writing and clearly state the reason.
For cases of re-certifying fragrant rice varieties due to changes in information related to the issued certificate, the time for appraisal and re-certification is 3 working days from the date of receipt of valid dossiers.
According to regulations, the certificate of fragrant rice variety will be cancelled if fraud is detected in the certification application dossier. Information about the cancelled certificate will be posted on the electronic information portal of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection.
