The safety data sheet (SDS, phiếu an toàn hóa chất) is the document most often left until an inspection arrives. Article 25 of Law on Chemicals No. 69/2025/QH15 is short and clear about who prepares it, who hands it over and who keeps it.
Organisations producing hazardous chemicals and organisations and individuals importing hazardous chemicals must prepare the safety data sheet — when importing, and before the chemical is put into use or circulated on the market. Whoever prepares it is legally responsible for the information it contains (clause 1 of Article 25).
That last point is the one most often missed. The SDS does not belong in a procurement file — it has to be where the chemicals actually are.
Producers and importers of hazardous chemicals must amend and supplement the SDS when the content changes, or when a new hazardous property of the chemical is discovered — and must do so before continuing to circulate the chemical on the market or put it into use (clause 3 of Article 25).
The content and template of the safety data sheet are set in detail by the central state management authority for chemicals (clause 4 of Article 25). The current template is in Appendix I of Circular 01/2026/TT-BCT.
Beyond the legal obligation, the SDS is the first document a warehouse operator, a carrier or a fire service will ask for. The classification in section 14 of the SDS is what determines which hazard class and division a chemical belongs to for transport and for segregation inside a warehouse.