Inventory of Business Licenses

General information
Name of formality	Import Permit of Food Products
Type of formality	Other
Date of last modification	15.12.2020
Responsible Authorities	Food and Drugs Department
LSIC	C - Manufacturing, G - Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, I - Accommodation and food service activities
Who should complete this business formality?	Individuals, legal entities, or domestic and foreign organizations engaged in the business of importing food for distribution, including import for donation, import for exhibition, and import for important celebrations. They must apply for an import permit from the Food and Drugs Department.
Qualifications needed by the business to get the formality	Food products must be sourced and certified by the government of the country of origin and tested to be safe for consumers.
Additional Comment	Foods that require special control, such as supplements, dairy products, which are classified as high-risk foods, must be registered with the Food and Drugs authority before exportation.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK
Name	Number	Date	Comment
Law on Food (Revised)	33/NA	24.07.2013	Article 41
Decision on Export-Import and Transit of Food	1166/MOH	21.06.2018	Chapter 2
Order on the Management of Safe Food Production, Exportation and Importation	856/MOPH	12.05.2006	Part III, Article 13 to Article 15
Provision on Food Registration	1600/MOPH	25.11.1994	Article 2 to Article 6
Presidential Ordinance on Fees and Service Fees	003/PO	26.12.2012	Article 47

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS FORMALITIES - First time
Name	Type	Comment
Request Letter for Food Import	Confirmative act
Purchase Order	Confirmative act
Invoice	Confirmative act
Packing List	Confirmative act
Permission to sale the food from the manufacturing or exporting country	Confirmative act
Enterprise Registration Certificate	Confirmative act
Label of the product	Confirmative act	in Lao language
Sample of Food Products	Confirmative act
Certificate of Analysis	Formality
Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Certificate	Formality

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS FORMALITIES - Renew
Name	Type	Comment

 

Mean of presentation
Means of presentation	At the Authority Offices
Address of authority	Food and Drugs Department, Ministry of Public Health
Processing Time (Day(s))	3	The process of considering the issuance of food import licenses is to check the completeness of the documents; collecting samples for analysis to ensure the quality in case of incomplete documents.

 

RENEWAL INFORMATION
Does the formality have a validity or an expiration date?	YES
How long will the formality be valid for? (in months)	30
What is the process and conditions to get the formality?
What is the process and conditions to renew the formality?	It can be extended for 30 working days

 

ISSUING FEES
Has application fees?	Service fees	Certificate fees	Application fees	Total fees
YES	50000.00	0.00	5000.00	55000.00
Comments	Pursuant to the Presidential Ordinance on Fees and Service Charges, Article 47, Clause II (7)

 

RENEWAL FEES
Has renewal fees?	Service fees	Certificate fees	Renewal fees	Total renewal fees
YES	0.00	25000.00	0.00	25000.00
Comments	As advised by the authority

   

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
Document Name	Comment
Request Letter for Food Import
Purchase Order
Invoice
Packing List
Permission to sale the food from the manufacturing or exporting country
Enterprise Registration Certificate
Label of the product	in Lao language
Sample of Food Products
Certificate of Analysis
Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Certificate

 

STATISTICS (Issue or/and renewed number)
Year	Issued	Renewed
2017	827	0
2016	1386	0
2018	1412	0
2019	1561	0
2020	968	0