As of late March 2026, Vietnam’s food quality management system has undergone significant structural changes in operations and its list of authorized entities. According to the latest report from the Food Safety Department (Ministry of Health), there are currently 26 organizations licensed to perform specialized testing to support state management.
Shift in regulatory authority
Based on new legal frameworks regarding the decentralization of health management (Decree 148/2025/ND-CP), since July 2025, the authority to designate testing facilities has been significantly transferred to the provincial level. Specifically:
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Central Level: The Ministry of Health directly manages and designates 26 leading facilities.
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Local Level: Heads of health departments in 34 provinces and cities now have the autonomy to select and designate testing units to meet local management requirements.
Key testing entities
The list of 26 central-designated facilities includes a combination of public research institutes, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and high-tech private enterprises.
Prominent units located in major cities include:
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Hanoi: National Institute for Food Control, National Institute of Nutrition, and Quality Assurance and Testing Center 1.
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Ho Chi Minh City: Institute of Public Health, Pasteur Institute, and international testing firms such as SGS, Bureau Veritas, and Eurofins Sac Ky Hai Dang.
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Other Regions: Facilities in Nha Trang, Can Tho, Bac Giang, Quang Tri, and the Central Highlands serve as regional food safety hubs.
New technical directives
In addition to organizational restructuring, regulatory bodies have urged specialized institutes to optimize analytical procedures. The current priority is standardizing testing methods for cereulide toxins in dairy and nutritional products to ensure the highest precision in protecting public health.