Declaration to Vietnam National Chemical Inventory (NCI)

Under Circular 32/2017/TT-BCT, chemicals are required to be declared to the Vietnam National Chemical Inventory (NCI) database before customs clearance.

From 2016 to 2021, the Vietnam NCI system was opened 5 times for nominations of chemicals into the database. Until June 2022, approximately 12,400 substances have been approved in the NCI database.

In addition, under the regulation, entities who have chemical-related activities in the Vietnam territory have the responsibility to submit annual reports on chemical-related activities of the previous year through the NCI portal before the deadline.

“Chemicals must be declared to the Vietnam National Chemical Inventory (NCI) database before customs clearance”

Vietnam NCI declaration services at Chementors

Chementors, based in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam, provides enterprises with regulatory support to open gates to the Vietnam market. We offer consultation and handle each step in the whole process tailored to the customer’s needs.

Local NCI expertise

Chementors team with Vietnamese NCI experts have knowledge and experience in dossier preparation and technical aspects to conduct NCI declaration and annual reporting for domestic and foreign enterprises by the local regulations.

To facilitate the process, we could also support clients to communicate directly with Vietnam importers to collect, prepare, and submit documents in the required format and content for NCI declaration and annual reporting.

Who must comply with NCI declaration requirements?

NCI declaration applies to each substance in the product regardless of its annual tonnage.

According to the regulation, importers who have a legal entity in Vietnam, shall bear the responsibility to declare imported chemicals through the NCI portal before going through the customs clearance process.

We can assist you with this.

How we process the NCI declaration

Chementors can take care of the whole process of the NCI declaration including:

supporting the legal entity who bears responsibility under NCI to open and manage an account on the NCI portal.
declaring chemicals onto the NCI portal. This step requires submitting the following documents
- Purchase invoices of chemicals, and
- Safety data sheets in Vietnamese, following GHS-VN regulation
following up for approval status and acting accordingly.
contact the local authority for information on the approval status when necessary.

Our services also include submission tasks of annual reports before the deadline i.e., January 15 every year.

For that, we will communicate with entities that have chemical-related activities in Vietnam, to gather necessary documents for the annual reporting tasks.

The process consists of the following steps:

collecting documents related to:
- manufacturing activities
- exporting activities
- importing activities
- domestic purchasing and/or selling activities
- using activities
- record of chemical accidents
- training activities
compiling dossiers in compliance with the requirements
submitting dossiers onto the NCI portal
following up for messages/announcements on the portal from the competent authorities and acting accordingly.

Required documents for NCI declaration:

Chementors can take care of the whole process of the NCI declaration. It also includes reporting on chemical-related activities before January 15 every year and legal entities shall submit reports on their chemical-related activities in the previous year through the NCI portal.

Purchase invoices of chemicals

Safety data sheets in Vietnamese, following GHS-VN regulation

We can help you with Vietnam NCI declarations for the following products.

Chementors offers NCI services for products from different categories such as:

adhesives
air care products
construction products
biocides
detergents and cleaning products
electronic devices
fertilizer products
fuels
paints and coatings
textile dyes

We closely follow up on upcoming changes

Currently, the Vietnamese government is working on the draft of a Decree on the management of new chemicals which are not yet listed in the NCI database. In the future, to enter the Vietnam market, new chemical substances (*) and foreign chemical substances (**) shall go through a registration process including application, examination, and approval to be listed in the NCI database.

Exemption cases, which are not covered by the NCI registration, will be addressed in the new Decree on NCI registration.

We keep track of this upcoming registration regulation.

Chementors and the local team are here to assist enterprises in updating relevant amendments and complying with those changes when the new regulation comes into force.

*) a substance that has not yet been listed in the NCI or foreign chemical inventories recognized by Vietnamese competent authorities.

**) a substance that has not yet been listed in the NCI but is already listed in foreign chemical inventories recognized by Vietnamese competent authorities.

Vietnam NCI FAQs

Is the NCI declaration mandatory in Vietnam?

Our company would like to export chemical products to Vietnam. Based on our supply chain model, we do not have a legal obligation under the NCI declaration. What and how could we facilitate the NCI process?

NCI declaration is a legal obligation for importers who are legal entities in Vietnam. The complex nature of chemical regulations, in general, requires competent specialists who have knowledge and expertise in both the chemistry field and chemical laws to comprehend scientific terms and regulatory requirements.

This places a significant challenge for importers in Vietnam who do not have in-house experts to handle the task. Therefore, it would create a blocking point that could delay the export-import plan.
To smoothen the trading activities, the participation of exporters in figuring out regulatory requirements and guidance would be supportive.

We are here to do that on your behalf. Based on your request, we can indirectly or directly guide and support the importers to fulfill requirements under NCI regulation.

Does Chementors provide Vietnamese SDSs for NCI declaration?

Yes, we do. We are experienced in compiling SDS in the Vietnamese language following Vietnam – GHS regulation, which is required by NCI declaration.

For more details on our SDS services, please refer to these links: