On December 13, 2019, the Vietnamese government issued Decree No. 94/2019/ND-CP (Decree 94) providing detailed guidance on some articles of the Law on Crop Production related to plant varieties and cultivation. Decree 94 will come into effect on February 1, 2020.

Notably, Decree 94 includes a list of plant variety genetic resources banned from export. In addition, it provides detailed regulations on labeling, conditions for trading or manufacturing, and administrative procedures related to plant varieties to facilitate the manufacture, trade or import of plant varieties.

Regarding cultivation, Decree 94 provides specific regulations on the shift of crop structure on paddy land and clearly defines the responsibilities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and People’s Committees at all levels in developing and organizing the implementation of the crop structure shift plan to ensure integrated and effective management. Decree 94 also provides more specific regulations on the protection and use of topsoil of specialized wet rice-growing land.

It is worth noting that Decree 94 removed the provision prohibiting the import of genetically modified plant varieties into Vietnam that was included in the draft version released in May 2019.

For more information on Decree 94, please contact us at [email protected].