Circular No. 25/2010/TT-BKHCN dated December 29, 2010 of the Ministry of Science and Technology guiding the procedures for licensing the road transport of hazardous goods being oxidants, organic oxides, and corrosive substances

CIRCULAR

GUIDING THE PROCEDURES FOR LICENSING THE ROAD TRANSPORT OF HAZARDOUS GOODS BEING OXIDANTS, ORGANIC OXIDES, AND CORROSIVE SUBSTANCES

Pursuant to the Law on Product and goods quality dated November 21^st2007;

Pursuant to the Government s Decree No. 28/2008/NĐ-CP dated March 14^th2008 defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Science and Technology;

Pursuant to the Government s Decree No.104/2009/NĐ-CPdated November 11^th2009 on the list of hazardous goods and the road transport of hazardous goods;

The Minister of Science and Technology guides the procedures for licensing the road transport of hazardous goods being oxidants, organic oxides, and corrosive substances within the Vietnam’s territory as follows: 

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Circular guides the procedures for licensing the transport of hazardous goods of class 5 and class 8 using road motor vehicles, comprising: oxidants, organic oxides (class 5) and corrosive substances (class 8) specified in the Annex 1 promulgated together with the Government s Decree No. 104/2009/NĐ-CP dated November 09^th2009 of the Government on the list of hazardous goods being transported by motor transports (hereinafter referred to as the Decree No. 104/2009/NĐ-CP).

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. This Circular is applicable to the Vietnamese and foreign organizations and individuals (hereinafter referred to as enterprises) related to the transport of hazardous goods by road motor vehicles in the Vietnam’s territory.

If the International Agreements related to the transport of hazardous goods by road motor vehicles to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a signatory are inconsistent with this Circular, such International Agreements shall apply.

2. The transport of hazardous goods serving National defense and security of the armed forces shall be prescribed by the Ministry of National Defense and the Minister of Public Security.

3. The application of the special measures and regulations to the cases prescribed in Article 2 of Decree No. 104/2009/NĐ-CP shall be decided by the Prime Minister, in particular:

a) The goods serving the urgent need for the prevention of epidemics, natural disaster, or enemy invasion;

b) The goods in transit of the countries and international organizations that Vietnam does not sign or join any International Agreement with them.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

The terms in this Circular are construed as follows:

1. The consignor is the enterprise that has hazardous goods that needs to be transported by road motor vehicles.

2. The deliverer is the enterprise that transports the hazardous goods  by road motor vehicles.

3. Valid copies are copies authenticated by a notarizing agency or certified by the enterprise.

4. Chemical safety card is a document made by the producer or imported, printed in Vietnamese, that contains the following information:

a) The chemical identification;

b) The hazards identification;

c) The information about the chemical compositions;

d) The physical and chemical properties;

dd) The chemical stability and reactivity;

e) Information about the toxicity;

g) Ecological information;

h) First-aid measures;

i) Fire-fighting measures;

k) Preventive and handling measures;

I) Requirements for storage;

m) Impacts on humans and requirements for personal protection equipment;

n) Requirements for disposal;

o) Requirements for transportation;

p) The corresponding technical regulation and law provisions;

q) Other necessary information.

If the chemical safety card comprises multiple pages, the pages must be continuously numbered from the first page to the last page. The page number must specify the ordinal number and the total numbers of pages of the chemical safety card.

Chapter II

CONDITIONS FOR LICENSING THE TRANSPORT OF HAZARDOUS GOODS BY ROAD MOTOR VEHICLES IN THE VIETNAM’S TERRITORY

Article 4. The hazardous goods being sent

The hazardous goods being chemicals of class 5 and class 8 must be packed and labeled as prescribed in Article 7, 8, 9, and 13 of the Decree No. 104/2009/NĐ-CP. In particular:

1. The hazardous goods, packages, and containers of hazardous chemicals must be packed in accordance with the current regulations and standards of packing hazardous chemicals used for industrial manufacture, or with the international standards accredited by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The use of other instruments to store hazardous goods must apply standards and pass the test on such standards.

2. The packages and containers of hazardous goods must have:

a) The goods labels as prescribed in the Government s Decree No. 89/2006/NĐ-CP dated June 30^th2006 on the goods labels, and current provisions on labeling goods being hazardous chemicals;

b) The label that contains the hazard symbols corresponding to the kind of goods as prescribed in Section 1 Annex II of the Decree No. 104/2009/NĐ-CP.

3. All the chemical safety cards as prescribed in Clause 4 Article 3 of this Decree.

Article 5. Vehicles

The requirements for vehicles that transport hazardous goods:

1. The vehicles of the enterprise that has hazardous goods that needs to be transported, or the vehicles of the hired deliverer must be tested, licensed by competent agencies of the Ministry of Transport, and its use period is not expired.

2. The vehicles must satisfy the technical requirements for the transport of hazardous goods prescribed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in particular:

a) Do not use trailers to transport hazardous goods;

b) The cabin of vehicles that transport hazardous goods must be sufficient for 02 people, including 01 drivers and 01 assistant;

c) The deliverer must satisfy the requirements for the drivers, the assistants, the ancillary equipment, and technical measures for the transport of hazardous goods in the National Standard No. TCVN 5507:2002;

d) There must be appropriate instruments and devices for fire prevention and fighting when transporting hazardous goods prescribed by the Fire Department;

dd) The cargo must be completely covered. The canvas margin must be at least 20 cm after the cargo is completely covered, and must be firmly fastened during the transport;

e) The canvas must be waterproof and flameproof;

g) The voltage of the vehicle must not exceed 24V.

h) The vehicles that transport hazardous goods must satisfy other technical requirements for motor vehicles prescribed by the Ministry of Transport.

3. The vehicle must have the hazard symbol corresponding to the kind of the goods being transported. If a vehicle transports various kinds of hazardous goods at the same time, all the corresponding hazard symbols must be stuck on it. The symbols must be stuck on its sides and back. Stick the sign of danger, in the shape, size, and color prescribed in Section 2 of Annex III of the Decree No. 104/2009/NĐ-CP, under such symbols, and the UN code in the middle. The size of the sign and the UN code are prescribed in Annex VII of this Circular.

4. The enterprise that has the vehicles must have specific plans and measures for dealing with them (removing the hazard symbols, cleaning and disposing the residual hazardous chemicals on the vehicles…) after the transport if that kind of hazardous goods is no longer be transported.

Article 6. Drivers and assistants

1. The driver must have an unexpired license that is suitable for the class of vehicle written in the license, and also have a certificate of knowledge about chemical safety issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The driver must check the hazardous goods before the transport and ensure the transport safety as prescribed; must comply with the notification of the consignor, and the provisions I the license to transport hazardous goods; only transport the hazardous goods after having the license, symbols, and signs as prescribed.

2. The driver must be trained and issued with a certificate of knowledge about the chemicals being transported issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and must comply with the provisions written in the license to transport.

Chapter III

THE PROCEDURES FOR LICENSING THE TRANSPORT OF HAZARDOUS GOODS BY ROAD MOTOR VEHICLES

Article 7. The authority to issue the license to transport hazardous goods

The Services of Science and Technology in central-affiliated cities and provinces (hereinafter referred to as the provincial Services of Science and Technology) are entitled to examine the dossiers of application submitted by enterprises, and issue the Licenses to transport hazardous goods to the enterprises that need the transport by road motor vehicles together with the danger signs.

Article 8. The dossier of application for the license to transport hazardous goods

The enterprise having hazardous goods that needs transport, or the enterprise that transports hazardous goods by motor vehicles must make and send 01 dossier to the Service of Science and Technology in the central-affiliated city or province where they registered their business. The dossier comprises:

1. The application for the License to transport hazardous goods, made under the form prescribed in Annex I of this Circular (the names of the hazardous goods must be consistent with the UN codes and names prescribed in Annex I of the Decree No. 103/2009/NĐ-CP) enclosed with a valid copy of the Certificate of business registration.

2. The list of vehicles, drivers, and assistants made under the form in Annex II of this Circular.

3. The schedule of transport, the list of hazardous goods being transported, the total weight of hazardous goods being transported made under the form in Annex III of this Circular.

4. The written commitment of the enterprise made under the form in Annex IV of this Circular.

5. The delivery order (applicable to the license to transport in many trips and many kinds of hazardous goods) made under the form in Annex III of this Circular.

6. The written commitment of the deliverer (in case the enterprise hires the vehicles of another enterprise).

7. The chemical safety card prescribed in Clause 4 Article 3 of this Decree.

8. The documents related to the requirements for the drivers and assistants:

a) The valid copies of the labor safety cards of the driver and the assistant as prescribed by law, together with the a certificate of knowledge about the chemical safety issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

b) The valid copy of the driver license of the driver that is suitable for the vehicle;

8. The valid copy of the written registration of the vehicle enclosed with an unexpired certificate of vehicle test issued by the Vietnam Register (the Ministry of Transport). The enterprise hiring vehicles to transport their hazardous goods must submit a copy of the transport contract, specifying the information about the vehicle (the kind of the vehicle, the license plate, the load limit).

9. The valid copy of the unexpired certificate of testing the packages and containers of hazardous goods being transported (applicable to specialized containers). When using other containing instruments, the enterprise must enclose the valid copies of the following documents to the dossier:

a) The standards applicable to the instruments for storing hazardous goods announced by the enterprise;

b) The sheet of test results that is conformable to the applicable standards of the instruments for storing hazardous goods issued by the testing organization that registered for carrying out testing as prescribed in the Circular No. 08/2009/TT-BKHCN dated April 08^th2009 of the Ministry of Science and Technology guiding the requirements and procedures for registering the conformity assessment.

Article 9. The procedures for issuing the License to transport

1. Within 07 working days as from receiving the complete and valid dossier, the Service of Science and Technology shall examine the dossier and issue the License to transport hazardous goods to the enterprise, under the form in Annex VI of this Circular.

2. If the dossier does not satisfy the prescribed requirements, within 03 working days as from receiving it, the Service of Science and Technology must inform the enterprise in writing so that they can supplement and complete the dossier.

Article 10. The validity of the License to transport

The License to transport is issued according to the dossier of application for the License to transport hazardous goods. The License is valid within 12 months as from the date of issue.

Chapter IV

RESPONSIBILITIES OF ENTERPRISE AND COMPETENT STATE AGENCIES

Article 11. Responsibilities of enterprises

1. The consignor, the deliverer, and the organizations and individuals relevant to the transport hazardous goods by road motor vehicles must:

a) Comply with this Circular during the transport of hazardous goods:

b) Check and control the conformity of the goods, vehicles, drivers, and assistants to the provisions in Article 4, 5 and 6 of this Circular, and express it in writing in the dossier of application for the license to transport hazardous goods;

c) Make a clear and sufficient schedule for transporting hazardous goods, request the drivers to strictly obey the schedule, the requirements of the consignor, and the instruction of the road constructors along the route. Stick to the schedule, the list of hazardous goods, and the transport time stated in the license to transport; log the transport according to the delivery order, and report the transport of hazardous goods every 3 months to the provincial Service of Science and Technology that issued the License to transport hazardous goods to the enterprise, together with the delivery order made under the form in Annex V;

d) Send written notification of the transport schedule and the copy of the Licenses to transport hazardous goods issued by the provincial Service of Science and Technology to the provincial People’s Committees along the route so that they can help and support in an emergency;

dd) Comply with the safety regulation during the transport and loading of hazardous goods;

e) Be responsible for the environment, the safety and hygiene of the hazardous goods during the transport;

g) Comply with other relevant provisions in the Decree No. 104/2009/NĐ-CP.

2. When this Circular is violated, depending on the nature and extent of violations, the enterprise shall have their License revoked, be liable to administrative penalties, or liable to criminal prosecution as prescribed by law.

Article 12. Responsibilities of provincial Services of Science and Technology

1. Examining the dossiers and issuing the Licenses to transport hazardous goods to enterprises.

2. Cooperating with other sectors in inspecting the transport of hazardous goods of the enterprises that have been issued with the Licenses to transport.  

3. Reporting the issuance of Licenses to transport hazardous goods to the Ministry of Science and Technology and the local provincial People’s Committee every 6 months.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION

Article 13. Effects

This Circular takes effect after 45 days as from the date of its signing, and supersedes the Circular No. 10/2008/TT-BKHCN dated August 08^th2008 of the Ministry of Science and Technology guiding the procedures for licensing the road transport of hazardous chemicals being oxidants, organic oxides, and corrosive substances.

Article 14. Transitional provisions

Enterprises may still use the unexpired Licenses to transport hazardous goods issued as prescribed in the Circular No. 10/2008/TT-BKHCN dated August 08^th2008 of the Ministry of Science and Technology until they expire.

Article 15. Implementation organization

1. In case the National Standard referred to in this Circular is amended, supplemented, or superseded, then the new standards shall apply.

2. Organizations and individuals are recommended to send feedbacks on the difficulties arising during the course of implementation to the Ministry of Science and Technology for consideration and settlement./.