Circular 09/2021/TT-BKHCN on Amendment 1:2021 of QCVN 20:2019/BKHCN National technical regulation on stainless steel

NATIONAL TECHNICAL REGULATION ON STAINLESS STEEL
 

1. GENERAL REGULATIONS

Amend and supplement Point 1.1 as follows:

“This Technical regulation stipulates the limit of content by mass of chemical elements and the quality control requirements for stainless steel manufactured domestically, imported and circulated on the market.

List of stainless steel and the corresponding HS codes are given in the Appendix attached to the National technical regulation QCVN 20:2019/BKHCN and Amendment 1:2021 of QCVN 20:2019/BKHCN.

Amend and supplement Point 1.3.2 and Point 1.3.3 as follows:

“1.3.2. Product lot: Stainless steel with the same grade, the same nominal dimensions (regardless of length and width), manufactured in the same batch, on the same technological line.

1.3.3. Commodity lot: Stainless steel with the same grade, the same nominal size (regardless of length and width), the same manufacturer, or imported by an organization or individual with the same set of documents or doing business at the same place.”

2. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS AND TEST METHOD

Amend and supplement Point 2.1 as follows:

“2.1. Stainless steel manufactured domestically, imported and circulated on the market to be assessed as the one in conformity with this Technical regulation must have a chemical composition under the requirements of the steel grade in the announced applicable standards, but must ensure that its chromium content is not less than 10.5% (by mass) and its carbon content is not more than 1.2% (by mass).

2.1.1. The announced applicable standards are national standards (TCVN), international standards, regional standards, foreign national standards, ASTM standards, and SAE standards.

2.1.2. In case the announced applicable standards are not those specified at Point 2.1.1, the chromium and carbon contents in the announced applicable standards must not be contrary to the provisions at Point 2.1.”

Amend Point 2.3 as follows:

“2.3. The requirements for methods of sampling and testing samples for domestically manufactured and imported stainless steel upon assessing the conformity with this Technical regulation shall comply with the corresponding regulations of the announced applicable standards. In case the announced applicable standards do not specify the test methods, the test methods in the national standards (TCVN), international standards, regional standards, foreign national standards, ASTM standards, SAE standards shall be applied”.

3. LABELING REQUIREMENTS

Amend and supplement Article 3 as follows:

“3.1. The labeling of goods must comply with the Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CP and relevant legal documents on goods labeling.

3.2. Labels of stainless steel shall be clearly marked, legible, indelible by hand, inscribed/affixed/tied on bundles, coils, plates, rods, tubes.

3.3. Stainless steel imported into Vietnam must be labeled in accordance with Clause 2, Article 10 of Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CP dated April 14, 2017 of the Government on goods labeling and related legal documents on goods labeling.

3.4. For stainless steel circulated in Vietnam, a goods label is required to show the following contents in Vietnamese:

- Name of goods.

- Name and address of the organization or individual in charge of the goods.

- Origin of goods.

In case the origin of goods cannot be identified, the label must show the place where the final stage to finish goods is completed in accordance with the law on goods labeling.

- Quantity: Nominal dimensions, weight and measurement units of goods (flat-rolled plate, flat-rolled bar: thickness, area or dimension of width x length; flat-rolled coil: thickness, width and length or net weight of coil; wire, bar (round, profile): cross-section, diameter and length or net weight of the wire, the bar; tube: outside diameter and inside diameter or thickness and length).

- Ingredient quantities: Steel grade, announced applicable standard number.

- Specifications: The content (%) of chemical elements according to the announced standards of the product.

In case all compulsory contents cannot be presented on the label due to the size of goods, the contents of quantity, ingredient quantities, and technical specifications shall be included in a document attached to the goods (the label must indicate the place where such contents are written) or by electronic means as prescribed by the Ministry of Science and Technology (if any).”

4. MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS

Amend and supplement Article 4 as follows:

“4.1. Domestically manufactured stainless steel must be declared the conformity according to Article 2 of this Technical regulation, affixed with the technical-regulation conformity mark (CR mark) and labeled in accordance with Article 3 of this Technical regulation before being put into circulation on the market.

The declaration of technical-regulation conformity shall comply with the Circular No. 28/2012/TT-BKHCN dated December 12, 2012 of the Minister of Science and Technology on declaration of standard conformity and technical-regulation conformity and methods for conformity assessment; the Circular No. 02/2017/TT-BKHCN dated March 31, 2017 of the Minister of Science and Technology amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Circular No. 28/2012/TT-BKHCN; the Circular No. 06/2020/TT-BKHCN dated December 10, 2020 of the Minister of Science and Technology detailing and implementing a number of articles of the Decree No. 132/2008/ND-CP dated December 31, 2008, the Decree No. 74/2018/ND-CP dated May 15, 2018, the Decree No. 154/2018/ND-CP dated November 9, 2018 and the Decree No. 119/2017/ND-CP dated November 1, 2017 of the Government.

The basis for declaration of technical-regulation conformity is the conformity assessment results of certification/inspection organizations registered their field of operation in accordance with the Decree No. 107/2016/ND-CP dated July 1, 2016 of the Government on business conditions for conformity assessment services; the Decree No. 154/2018/ND-CP dated November 9, 2018 of the Government amending, supplementing and annulling a number of regulations on investment and business conditions in fields under the state management of the Ministry of Science and Technology and a number of regulations on specialized inspection or recognized under the Circular No. 27/2007/TT-BKHCN dated October 31, 2007 of the Minister of Science and Technology guiding the signing and implementation of agreements on mutual recognition of conformity assessment results.

4.2. Imported stainless steel must be under the state inspection for quality in accordance with Article 2, be affixed with the technical-regulation conformity mark (CR mark) and have the label in accordance with Article 3 of this Technical regulation before put into circulation on the market.

The quality inspection and exemption from quality inspection of imported stainless steel products shall comply with the Government's Decree No. 132/2008/ND-CP dated December 31, 2008 detailing the implementation of a Articles of the Law on Product and Goods Quality; the Decree No. 74/2018/ND-CP dated May 15, 2018 of the Government amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Decree No. 132/2008/ND-CP; the Decree No. 154/2018/ND-CP; the Circular No. 06/2020/TT-BKHCN and the Decree No. 85/2019/ND-CP dated November 14, 2019 of the Government prescribing the performance of administrative procedures under the national single-window mechanism and ASEAN single-window mechanism and specialized inspection of imports and exports.

4.3. Methods of conformity assessment and effect of Certificates

Methods of conformity assessment as a basis for certification of conformity, state inspection of stainless steel quality are specified in Article 5 and Appendix II of Circular No. 28/2012/TT-BKHCN.

4.3.1. For domestically manufactured stainless steels, the conformity assessment shall be carried out according to Method 5 (testing of typical samples and assessment of the manufacturing process; supervision by testing of samples taken at the manufacturing site or on the market in conjunction with assessment of the manufacturing process) at the manufacturing facility. In case the manufacturing facility cannot apply the quality assurance requirements under Method 5, the conformity assessment under Method 7 (Testing of representative samples, assessment of conformity of lots of products and goods) shall be applied for each product lot.

4.3.2. For imported stainless steel, the conformity assessment shall comply with Method 7 (Testing of representative samples, assessment of conformity of lots of products and goods) and applied to each lot of imported goods. In case the importing organizations or individuals require certification at the exporting country's manufacturing facility, the conformity assessment shall be carried out under Method 5 (testing of typical samples and assessment of the manufacturing process; supervision by testing of samples taken at the manufacturing site or on the market in conjunction with assessment of the manufacturing process).

4.3.3. The Certificate of Conformity is only valid for each lot of products or goods for Method 7 and for no more than 3 years for Method 5.

4.4. Sampling and testing for conformity assessment

4.4.1. When stainless steel is assessed for conformity according to this Technical regulation, the number of samples shall be randomly taken to represent the lot of products and goods in accordance with the national standard TCVN 7790-1:2007 Sampling procedures for inspection by attributes - Part 1: Sampling schemes indexed by acceptance quality limit (AQL) for lot-by-lot inspection, inspection level S2, single sampling plan under normal inspection, acceptance quality limit (AQL) = 1.5 for inspection of appearance, uniformity of lot, the maximum number of testing samples is not more than 03 (three) samples.

4.4.2. Testing for certification, assessment, inspection and control of stainless steel quality in accordance with this Technical regulation must be carried out by a testing organization designated by the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality in accordance with the law.

4.5. Principles of accepting conformity assessment results, using test results

4.5.1. For stainless steel products under the scope of adjustment of this Technical regulation with conformity assessment results in accordance with this Technical regulation, the certification/inspection organization considers accepting such conformity assessment results for product assessment, when there is sufficient evidence on unchanged chemical composition of the steel during the product manufacturing process.

4.5.2. The certification/inspection organization may consider using the testing results of the testing organization in the exporting country for certification if such testing organization has been recognized as a member of APAC (Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation) or of ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) for its competence in accordance with TCVN ISO/IEC 17025 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories for testing range of the chemical composition of stainless steel.

4.5.3. Before using the testing results of conformity assessment organizations in the exporting country, the certification/inspection organization must report to the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality for monitoring and management. When necessary, the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality will organize inspection of the use of testing results of certification/inspection organizations.

4.5.4. When using the testing results of conformity assessment organizations in the exporting country, the certification/inspection organization is responsible for its own certification/inspection results.”

5. RESPONSIBILITIES OF ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS

Amend Point 5.2 as follows:

“5.2. Production and business enterprises must meet the requirements specified in Article 2 and comply with the provisions of Articles 3 and 4 of this Technical regulation”.

Amend Point 5.3.4 as follows:

“5.3.4. Goods-related dossiers, technical documents, test results, certificates of conformity must be kept for at least 10 years.”

Amend Point 5.4, Point 5.5 and Point 5.6 as follows:

“5.4. Organizations and individuals importing stainless steel

5.4.1. Organizations and individuals importing stainless steel must register for state inspection on quality at the inspection agency in accordance with Circular No. 06/2020/TT-BKHCN.

5.4.2. Goods-related dossiers, technical documents, test results, certificates of conformity must be kept for at least 10 years.

5.5. Organizations and individuals trading in stainless steel

They are only allowed to trade in stainless steel with assured quality, CR mark and label in accordance with this Technical regulation, must produce certified true copy of conformity assessment results to the inspection agency upon request.

5.6. Certification organizations, inspection organizations, testing organizations

5.6.1. Certification organizations, inspection organizations and testing organizations must comply with this Technical regulation and relevant legal provisions. When accepting the certification results and testing results of conformity assessment organizations in the exporting country, they must comply with the provisions of Point 4.5 of this Technical regulation.

5.6.2. Goods-related dossiers, technical documents, test results, certificates of conformity must be kept for at least 10 years”./.

APPENDIX

LIST OF STAINLESS STEEL UNDER SCOPE OF APPLICATION OF QCVN 20:2019/BKHCN

Supplement to the Appendix issued together with QCVN 20:2019/BKHCN as follows: