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The process of cosmetic product registration in Vietnam
Cosmetic products in Vietnam are defined as products for external use (including teeth) of the human body. Products that are intended to be ingested, injected or placed in contact with other parts of the human body e.g. the mucous membranes of the nasal passage or the internal genitalia shall not be considered cosmetic products.
Register a company or use nominee product holder
The company must be registered as a wholesale trading company or a retail sales company, or both. To accelerate the process you can use Emerhub as the registered company.
Duration: immediate (if using Emerhub) or one month if registering a new company.
Register products
All cosmetic products must be registered with the Ministry of Health (MOH).
Each SKU must be registered separately.
Duration: 15-30 working days.
Start importing
Only the holder of the registration can import the products to Vietnam.
If you sell the products to other companies or directly to consumers you will also need to acquire a sub-license for retail activities
Duration: immediately after products are registered. The retail sub-license takes 6-12 weeks.
Required information to start the cosmetic product registration
The list of information required to register a cosmetic product in Vietnam:
- Letter of Attorney from the manufacturer or brand owner (in English or Vietnamese), legalized by a Vietnamese embassy abroad
- Recent Certificate of Free Sales (in English), must be legalized in the country of origin
- Business registration certificate (will be provided by Emerhub if you use nominee registrar)
- Full list of ingredients of each product (full 100% percentage, International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) and intended use
Get in touch with Emerub’s consultants and we will review your product list to detect potential issues with the local regulations.
Frequently asked questions about cosmetic product registration and import in Vietnam
Yes, each of the SKU requires its own registration.
No, the product holder has to be a company registered in Vietnam. Setting up a company takes about one month. However, to skip that step and also not have to administer a legal entity later on, you can use Emerhub as the nominee product holder.
Yes, as long as you have the retail sub-license. Note that the retail sublicense can be applied parallelly to the company and product registration and will take 6-12 weeks to complete.
Cosmetic products shall be in contact with only the various external parts of the human body (epidermis, hair system, nails, lips and external genital organs) or with the teeth and the mucous membranes of the oral cavity. Products that are intended to be ingested, injected or placed in contact with other parts of the human body e.g. the mucous membranes of the nasal passage or the internal genitalia shall not be considered cosmetic products.
