Circular No. 03/2018/TT-BGTVT dated January 10, 2018 of the Ministry of Transport on technical and environmental safety inspection of imported motor vehicles regulated by decree no. 116/2017/ND-CP

THE MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT

Circular No.03/2018/TT-BGTVT dated January 10, 2018 of the Ministry of Transport ontechnical and environmental safety inspection of imported motor vehicles regulated by decree no. 116/2017/ND-CP

Pursuant to the Law on Road traffic dated November 13, 2008;

Pursuant to the Law on product quality dated November 21, 2007;

Pursuant to the Law on Environment protection dated June 23, 2014;

Pursuant to the Government s Decree No. 132/2008/ND-CP dated December 31, 2008, elaborating some Articles of the Law on Product and goods quality;

Pursuant to the Government s Decree No. 187/2013/ND-CP dated November 20, 2013 elaborating Articles on international trade of the Law on Commerce;

Pursuant to the Government s Decree No. 116/2017/ND-CP dated October 17, 2017 on conditions for manufacturing, assembly, import of motor vehicles and provision of maintenance services for motor vehicles (hereinafter referred to as “Decree No. 116/2017/ND-CP”);

Pursuant to the Government s Decree No. 12/2017/ND-CP dated February 10, 2017 defining functions, tasks, entitlements and organizational structure of the Ministry of Transport;

At the request of Director of Science and Technology Department and Director of the Vietnam Register;

The Minister of Transport promulgates a Circular on technical and environmental safety inspection of imported motor vehicles regulated by Decree No. 116/2017/ND-CP.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scopeof adjustment

1. This Circular provides for technical and environmental safety inspection of imported motor vehicles regulated by Decree No. 116/2017/ND-CP.

2. This Circular does not apply to imported motor vehicles specified in Point b Clause 2 Article 2 of Decree No. 116/2017/ND-CP.

Article 2.Subject of application

This Circular applies to enterprises that import motor vehicles into Vietnam, other organizations and individuals involved in management and inspection of motor vehicles.

Article 3. Definitions

For the purposes of this Circular, the terms below are construed as follows:

1.“foreign authority” means a foreign organization that has the power to issuer theCertificate of Type approval, documents about results of quality inspection of foreign manufacturers or assemblers of the motor vehicles; certificate of registration and equivalent documents.

2.“motor vehicles of the same type” are motor vehicles that satisfy the criteria specified in Appendix II hereof.

3.“exhaust test report”means a document issued by a Vietnamese testing facility to a motor vehicle or engine prototype.

4.“safety inspection report”means a document issued by a Vietnamese testing facility to a motor vehicle prototype.

5.“manufacturer’s certificate of quality inspection”means a document that is issued by the foreign manufacturer to each motor vehicle and contains the following information: vehicle identification number (VIN), engine number, specifications in Appendix V hereof; type according to the Certificate of Type approval.

6.“electronic registration”means the provision, receipt and processing of information about registration and exchange of information between relevant parties through an electronic registration system.

7.“electronic registration system”meansa system with which the inspecting authority carries out electronic registration procedures.

8.“electronic declaration system”means a system with which importers provide information and receive feedbacks from the inspecting authority during the electronic registration process.

9.“electronic registration form”means an electronic document which contains information provided by the importer.

10.“system error”means the situation in which the electronic registration system or declaration system is not functional.

11.“certificate of quality”means any of the documents specified in Appendix V, VI and VII hereof.

12.“Certificate of Type approval”means the certificate of technical safety and environmental safety of a type of motor vehicle or certificate of technical safety of a type of motor vehicle and certificate of environmental safety of a type of motor vehicle or engine.

13.“results of assessment of quality assurance conditions”means results of assessment of the foreign manufacturer’s or assembler’s quality assurance conditions regarding the type of imported motor vehicles according to ISO 9001, ASSETS 16949, UNECE, EC, EEC or relevant documents issued by foreign authorities.

14.“inspecting authority”means the Vietnam Register, which is responsible for inspection and certification of technical safety and environmental safety of imported motor vehicles specified in this Circular.

Chapter II

TECHNICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY INSPECTION

Article 4. Physical and electronic application for inspection

1. An application for inspection of used vehicles consists of:

a) The application form in Appendix I hereof;

b) A copy of the certificate of registration which is still unexpired by the date of export and issued by a foreign authority or equivalent documents;

c) A copy of the invoice;

d) A copy of the VIN decoder (for first type approval);

dd) The original copy of the Information sheet of imported motor vehicle in Appendix III hereof;

e) A copy of the manufacturer’s technical manual;

g) A copy of the import declaration (for physical application) or declaration number and date (for electronic application).

2. An application for inspection of new vehicles consists of:

a) The application form in Appendix I hereof;

b) A copy of the certificate of registration issued by a foreign authority;

c) A copy of the certificate of type approval of the tire, rearview mirrors, front lamps and windshield issued by a competent authority;

d) The original copy of the certificate of quality inspection issued by the foreign manufacturer to each vehicle;

dd) Copies of documents about assessment of the foreign manufacturer’s quality assurance conditions issued by foreign authorities;

e) A copy of the invoice;

g) A copy of the VIN decoder (for first type approval);

h) The original copy of the Information sheet of imported motor vehicle in Appendix III hereof;

i) A copy of the manufacturer’s technical manual;

k) A copy of the import declaration (for physical application) or declaration number and date (for electronic application);

l) A copy of the emission test report;

m) A copy of the safety test report.

Article 5. Inspection contents

1. Every used motor vehicle must undergo technical and environmental safety inspection as follows:

a) Inspect the consistency of documents in the application of inspection.

b) Inspect the vehicle if it is registered in an EU country, G7 country or any nation whose emission standards are equal to or higher than that of Vietnam. Inspection contents are specified in Appendix IV hereof.

2. Every shipment of new motor vehicles must undergo inspection by a quality control authority. The sample vehicles of each motor vehicle type in the shipment must undergo emission test and technical safety inspection as follows:

a) Inspect the consistency of the manufacturer’s certificates of quality inspection; consistency between the manufacturer’s certificate of quality inspection and the Certificate of Type approval of the same motor vehicle type in the shipment.

b) Compare the chassis number, engine number of each vehicle in the shipment with those in the application for inspection; inspect the consistency of vehicles of the same type in the shipment; select random vehicles of each type in the shipment and compare their specifications with those in the application.

c) The inspecting authority will randomly choose 1 or 2 sample vehicles (if the importer wishes to have 1 vehicle undergoing safety inspection and 1 vehicle undergoing emission test) of each type in the shipment and the importer will deliver them to the testing facility. The sampling must be recorded using the form in Appendix VIII hereof, which will be presented to the testing facility.

d) Emission test shall be carried out in accordance with QCVN 86: 2015/BGTVT (except evaporation test).

dd) Technical safety test shall be carried out in accordance with QCVN 09:2015/BGTVT, QCVN 10:2015/BGTVT, QCVN 82:2014/BGTVT and effective regulations of law (except for rearview mirrors, windshield, front lamps, tires, rims, flameproof materials and structures).

Article 6. Inspection procedures

1. Submission of the application for inspection

a) The importer shall submit an application specified in Article 4 of this Circular to the inspecting authority, whether directly or electronically. The importer must provide the documents mentioned in Point a through e of Clause 1 Article 4 (for used vehicles), or the documents from Point a through i of Clause 2 Article 4 (for new vehicles). The copy of the import declaration must be submitted when applying for inspection; the other documents must be submitted before the certificate of quality is issued.

b) An electronic copy of the manufacturer’s certificate of quality inspection shall be submitted online, and the physical copy shall be submitted to the inspecting authority before the inspection.

2. Receipt of application

The inspecting authority shall receive and check the application within 1 working day. If the application is satisfactory, the inspection authority shall give a confirmation in the application form. If the application is not satisfactory, the inspecting authority shall request the importer to complete it.

3. Vehicle inspection

a) The importer shall deliver the vehicles to the inspection site at the registered time.

b) The inspection shall be carried out in accordance with Clause 1 Article 5 or Point a through c of Clause 2 Article 5 of this Circular.

c) If the importer fails to deliver the vehicles within 10 days from the application date, the inspecting authority shall suspend the certification process, in which case the importer must apply from the beginning.

4. Testing sample vehicles.

For new vehicles, the importer shall deliver the sample vehicles to the testing facility for testing. The testing result is the basis for issuance of the certificate of quality.

5. Issuance of certificate of quality

Within 04 working days from the end of the inspection and receipt of adequate documents, the inspecting authority shall issue the physical or electronic certificate of quality as follows:

a) Issue the certificate of technical safety and environmental safety to each vehicle in the shipment using the template in Appendix V hereof. The certificate of technical safety and environmental safety issued to the sample vehicle shall have the text “This vehicle was used for testing in Vietnam”.

b) Issue a notice of non-conformity using the template in Appendix VI hereof and send it to the customs authority if either the emission test or safety test fails, the used vehicle fails to pass the test or is not registered in a EU country, G7 country or a country whose emission standards are equivalent to or higher than those of Vietnam.

c) Issue a notice of vehicle on the list of vehicles banned from import using the template in Appendix VII hereof and send it to the customs authority.

Article 7. Inspection process

1. If a used vehicle has been modified, the importer must submit documents about the modified vehicle issued by a foreign vehicle management authority. The gross vehicle weight must not exceed the value specified in the documents issued by the foreign authority.

2. If an imported vehicle is damage en route, the importer may makes repair to certain parts such as body, paintjob, battery, etc.

3. If it is suspected that the chassis number, VIN (if chassis number is not available) or engine number has been tampered with, the inspecting authority shall request a competent agency to perform an inspection. The infection cost shall be paid by the inspecting authority.

4. During the inspection, if a vehicle is founded to be on the list of vehicles banned from import specified in Decree No. 187/2013/ND-CP, the inspecting authority shall collect evidence and issue a notice using the template in Appendix VII hereof. The inspection, classification and sampling of other vehicles in the shipment shall be carried out as usual.

Chapter III

RECALL

Article 8. Recall of defective vehicles

1. Vehicles will be recalled when:

a) The recall is announced by the manufacturer;

b) The recall is requested by the investigating authority. Request for recall shall be made by the investigating authority on the basis of evidence and verification of reports about technical safety and environmental safety of the imported vehicles.

2. Responsibilities of the importer:

In case of defective vehicles that have to be recall, the importer shall:

a) Within 05 working days from the receipt of the request announcement from the manufacturer, send written notifications to retail agents so that they do not sell the recalled vehicles;

b) Within 10 working days from the receipt of the request announcement from the manufacturer, send a written report to the inspecting authority on causes of the defects, solutions, quantity of recalled vehicles and a recall plan;

c) Comply with the recall plan; post the recall plan on the websites of the importers and retail agents in a timely manner;

d) Send a written report to the inspecting authority every 03 months and upon the end of the recall period;

dd) For recalled vehicles without the certificate of quality, provide evidence that the defects have been eliminated by the manufacturer, which is the basis for proceeding certification of imported vehicles.

3. Responsibilities of the inspecting authority:

a) Send a written notice of receipt of the recall plan to the importer.

b) Request the importer to carry out the recall.

c) Post information about recalled vehicles on the website of the investigating authority.

d) Monitor and inspect the recall according to plan.

dd) Suspend the certification process if the importer fails to fulfill its responsibilities specified in Point a through d Clause 2 of this Article.

e) The investigating authority will consider suspending the process of certification of other vehicles of the manufacturer if the importer provides evidence that such manufacturer does not cooperate in implementing the recall plan.

Chapter IV

ISSUANCE OF QUALITY CERTIFICATE

Article 9. Rules for issuance of the certificate of quality

1. There are 3 copies of a physical certificate of qualities, which are used for archiving, following customs procedures, payment of registration fee and vehicle registration.

2. A physical certificate of quality shall be issued if relevant authorities are not connected to the electronic data system of the inspecting authority.

3. The physical or electronic certificate of quality of imported motor vehicles shall be used for following customs procedures, payment of registration fee, vehicle registration, first inspection or other procedures requested by competent authorities.

Article 10. Reissuance of certificate of quality

1. The certificate of quality will be reissued if it is lost or damaged.

2. The importer shall send directly, by post or otherwise send 01 application for reissuance of the certificate of quality to the inspecting authority. Such an application consists of:

a) The application form;

b) The original copy of the certificate of quality in case it is damaged.

3. Reissuance of a lost certificate

a) If the application is satisfactory, the inspecting authority shall send a written notification to the importer, the customs, tax and police authorities. If the application is not satisfactory, the inspecting authority shall instruct the importer to complete it.

b) If no feedbacks are received from relevant parties within 30 days from the day on which the notification mentioned in Point a of this Clause is sent, the inspecting authority shall issue a physical or electronic copy of the certificate of quality. If the application is reject, the inspecting authority shall respond and explain in writing.

4. Reissuance of a damaged certificate: If the application is satisfactory, the inspecting authority shall issue a physical or electronic copy of the certificate of quality within 04 working days. If the application is reject, the inspecting authority shall respond and explain in writing.

Chapter V

ORGANIZATIONSRESPONSIBILITIES

Article 11. Responsibilities of the importer

1. Take responsibility for the accuracy and legitimacy of the documents provided for the inspecting authority.

2. Maintain the status quo of the imported vehicles for inspection.

3. Cooperate with the inspecting authority and testing facility during the inspection and testing.

4. Inform the supervisory authority in case of system error.

5. Pay fees and charges prescribed by law.

Article 12. Responsibilities of the inspecting authority

1. Uniformly issue and manage certificates of quality; take responsibility for the results of inspection and certification; ensure consistency of vehicles in the shipment with the tested vehicles and engines.

2. Post a notice on the website of the inspecting authority within 04 hours after the system error occurs (if the error occurs during office hours) or within 04 first hours of the next working days (if the error occurs during outside of office hours.

3. Collect fees and charges related to inspection and issuance of the certificate of quality as prescribed by law.

4. Retain electronic documents and physical documents that have been digitalized for 05 years for documents about imported vehicles that have been inspected.

5. Submit reports on results of technical and environmental safety inspection of imported motor vehicles to the Ministry of Transport.

Article 13. Responsibilities of the testing facility

1. The testing facilities shall perform emission test and technical safety test in accordance with applicable regulations and at the request of importers.

2. Instruct importers to prepare sample vehicles and sample engines for testing.

Chapter VI

IMPLEMENTATIONORGANIZATION

Article 14. Effect

This Circular takes effect on March 01, 2018.

Article 15. Transitional provisions

1. Imported motor vehicles that arrive at Vietnam’s ports or checkpoints before January 01, 2018 or whose import declarations are made before January 01, 2018 shall apply regulations on inspection and issuance of the certificate of quality of Circular No. 31/2011/TT-BGTVT and Circular No. 55/2014/TT-BGTVT.

2. Inspection of quality of motor vehicles that are imported during the period from January 01, 2018 to the effective date of this Circular shall apply Clause 2 Article 6 of Decree No. 116/2017/ND-CP, Circular No. 31/2011/TT-BGTVT and Circular No. 55/2014/TT-BGTVT.

3. Certificates of quality that are issued under Circular No. 31/2011/TT-BGTVT and Circular No. 55/2014/TT-BGTVT are still valid when following customs procedures, paying registration fee, applying for vehicle registration, first inspection or other procedures requested by competent authorities.

Article 16. Implementationresponsibilities

1. Chief of the Ministry Office, Ministerial Chief Inspector, Directors of Vietnam Register, Director of other Departments, heads of relevant organizations are responsible for implementation of this Circular.

2. In the cases where any of the legislative documents referred to in this Circular is amended or replaced, the newest one shall apply.

3. Any difficulties arising in the course of implementation of this Circular should be reported to the Ministry of Transport for consideration./.

For the Minister

The Deputy Minister

Le Dinh Tho