Circular No. 27/2012/TT-BKHCN dated December 12, 2012 of the Ministry of Planning and Investment providing the state inspection of the quality of imported goods under the management of the Ministry of Science and Technology

THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Circular No. 27/2012/TT-BKHCN of December 12, 2012, providing the state inspection of the quality of imported goods under the management of the Ministry of Science and Technology

Pursuant to the November 21, 2007 Law on Product and Goods Quality;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 132/2008/ND-CP of December 31, 2008, detailing a number of articles of the Law on Product and Goods Quality;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 89/2006/ND-CP of August 30, 2006, on goods labeling;

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

The Minister of Science and Technology provides the state inspection of the quality of imported goods under the management of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation and subjects of application

1. This Circular provides the content of and order and procedures for the state inspection of the quality of imported goods (below referred to as quality inspection of imported goods) under the management of the Ministry of Science and Technology as provided in Clause 4, Article 69 of the Law on Product and Goods Quality.

2. This Circular applies to agencies performing the state management of product and goods quality; organizations and individuals importing goods (below referred to as importers); and organizations and individuals involved in the quality inspection of imported goods under the management of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Article 2. Objects of inspection

1. Goods imported into Vietnam which are on the List of likely unsafe goods (below referred to as the List of group-2 goods).

Imported goods outside the List of group-2 goods which are potentially unsafe or which are likely unsafe according to the warnings of international, regional or foreign organizations may be inspected in accordance with this Circular.

2. This Circular does not apply to imported goods being personal luggage, diplomatic goods, goods for exhibitions and fairs, and gifts; goods, supplies and equipment temporarily imported for re-export; transited goods in border-gate transfer; goods in bonded warehouses; goods processed by Vietnamese enterprises for foreign traders; imported supplies, equipment and machines for investment projects; goods in the fields of security and defense, national secrets, nuclear safety and radiation; and other goods for non-commercial purposes as prescribed by law.

Article 3. Inspection bases

Bases for goods quality inspection include technical regulations and announced standards applicable to goods, regulations on goods labeling, and other relevant regulations.

Article 4. Interpretation of terms

In this Circular, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Goods lot is a collection of goods of the same kind, with a specified quantity, the same appellation, utilities, label, type and technical characteristics, made by the same manufacturer and recorded in the same import dossier set.

2. Inspection agencies are agencies assigned or decentralized to perform the state management of the quality of products and goods under the management of the Ministry of Science and Technology, including:

a/ The Department for Goods Quality Management under the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality;

b/ Provincial-level Standards, Metrology and Quality Departments of the localities having border gates or imported goods inspection points.

3. Quality certificates include:

a/ Valid regulation conformity certificates for products and goods conformable with relevant technical regulations granted by appointed or accredited certification organizations;

b/ Quality certificate or quality appraisal papers for goods lots conformable with relevant technical regulations or announced standards applicable to the goods, granted by appointed or accredited certification organizations or appraisal organizations;

c/ Management system certificates for products and goods required to have a  management system.

Article 5. Quality conditions for imported goods to go through customs clearance

1. Imported goods subject to state inspection of their quality may go through customs clearance only when inspection agencies defined in Clause 2, Article 4 of this Circular issue a Notice of imported goods’ satisfaction of quality requirements (according to Form No. 03. TBKQKT provided in the Appendix to this Circular).

2. For imported goods permitted by customs offices to go through temporary customs clearance before quality inspection, customs offices may permit temporary customs clearance only after importers have registered state inspection of imported goods quality with inspection agencies (according to Form No. 01. DKKT provided in the Appendix to this Circular). After receiving temporary customs clearance, importers shall contact inspection agencies for inspecting the quality of imported goods in accordance with this Circular. Customs offices shall carry out official customs clearance procedures only when the goods meet the requirements stated in Clause 1 of this Article.

For imported goods permitted by customs offices to go through temporary customs clearance before quality inspection, importers may not market them unless the quality inspection has been completed in accordance with this Circular.

Article 6. Dossier of registration for quality inspection of imported goods

1. A dossier registration for quality inspection of imported goods comprises:

a/ The written registration for state inspection of imported goods quality (4 copies, made according to Form No. 01. DKKT provided in the Appendix to this Circular);

b/ Copies of the contract and the packing list (if any);

c/ Copy(ies) of the quality certificate (with the original for comparison, unless the copies have been certified) or the original;

d/ Other relevant documents: Copy (certified by the importer) of the bill of lading; invoice; imported goods declaration; certificate of origin (if any); photos or descriptions of the goods; specimen labels of imported goods, appended with conformity mark, and supplementary labels (if the principal labels do not have all contents as required); and certificate of free sale (if any).

2. Importers shall take responsibility for the validity and legality of dossiers of registration for quality inspection of imported goods.

Chapter II

INSPECTION CONTENT, ORDER AND PROCEDURES

Article 7. Inspection contents

Inspection agencies shall inspect:

1. The completeness of dossiers of registration for quality inspection of imported goods in accordance with Article 6 of this Circular.

2. The results of conformity assessment, conformity marks, goods labels (for goods subject to labeling) and documents accompanying products and goods subject to inspection:

a/ To inspect the conformity of the quality certificates of imported goods lots with technical regulations and announced applicable standards and current regulations; to inspect the accuracy and completeness of information in the dossiers;

b/ To inspect the compulsory details on the specimen labels (and supplementary labels), including appellations of the goods, names and addresses of organizations and individuals responsible for the goods; origin of the goods and other details stipulated for each kind of goods; consistency of the specimen labels with the goods import dossier;

c/ To inspect the position, color and size of and language used in the labels;

d/ To inspect the direct presentation of conformity marks on the products or goods or on their packages or labels.

3. The written approval as required by the Ministry of Science and Technology for imported goods on the List of group-2 goods which have new characteristics and are likely unsafe but not yet mentioned in relevant technical regulations.

Article 8. Order and procedures for inspection and handling measures in the inspection process

Inspection agencies shall conduct inspection and take handling measures in the inspection process in the following order:

1. To receive dossiers of registration for quality inspection from importers (made according to Form No. 02. TNHS provided in the Appendix to this Circular); to record them in their register and sign and stamp on the importers’ written registrations.

2. To conduct inspection:

a/ For complete and valid dossiers: Within 3 working days after receiving a dossier of registration for quality inspection, the inspection agency shall issue a Notice of imported goods’ satisfaction of quality requirements (made according to Form No. 03. TBKQKT provided in the Appendix to this Circular) and send it to the importer for carrying out customs clearance procedures for the goods lot;

b/ For complete but invalid dossiers:

If the goods fail to meet labeling requirements, the inspection agency shall issue a Notice of imported goods’ non-satisfaction of quality requirements through state inspection (made according to Form No. 03. TBKQKT provided in the Appendix to this Circular), clearly stating the unsatisfactory contents, and request the importer to satisfy the labeling requirements within 10 working days. The inspection agency shall issue a Notice of imported goods lot’s satisfaction of quality requirements only when the importer has proof of having satisfied the requirements or a quality certificate of the goods lot.

If the quality certificate of the imported goods is inconsistent with the dossier of the imported goods lot or unconformable with announced applicable standards or relevant technical regulations, the inspection agency shall issue a Notice of imported goods’ non-satisfaction of quality requirements through state inspection (made according to Form No. 03. TBKQKT provided in the Appendix to this Circular), clearly stating the unsatisfactory contents, and send it to the customs office and importer and, at the same time, send a report to the superior management agency (made according to Form No. 04. BCKDCL provided in the Appendix to this Circular) for handling in accordance with Points a, b and c, Clause 2, Article 8 of the Government’s Decree No. 132/2008/ND-CP of December 31, 2008, detailing a number of articles of the Law on Product and Goods Quality.

c/ For incomplete dossiers: The inspection agency shall write the insufficient components of the dossier in the dossier receipt card and request the importer to supplement and complete the dossier within 25 working days. Past this time limit, if still failing to supplement the dossier, the importer shall send an official letter to the inspection agency, clearly stating the reason and the time for completing the dossier. Subsequent inspection steps may be taken only after the importer completes the dossier.

If the importer fails to complete the dossier within the prescribed time limit, within 3 working days after the expiration of this time limit, the inspection agency shall issue a Notice of the result of state inspection of imported goods quality (made according to Form No. 03. TBKQKT provided in the Appendix to this Circular), stating that “The goods lot has an incomplete dossier”, and send it to the importer and the customs office and, at the same time, assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the related inspection agency in, inspecting the goods quality at the importer’s premises.

3. If detecting, through dossier examination that imported goods must be inspected under Clauses 1 and 2, Article 9 of this Circular, within 3 working days after receiving the dossier of registration for quality inspection, the inspection agency shall issue a Notice of the result of state inspection of imported goods quality (made according to Form No. 03. TBKQKT provided in the Appendix to this Circular), clearly stating the contents subject to further inspection, and send it to the importer and, at the same time, conduct inspection in accordance with Clauses 1 and 2, Article 9 of this Circular. The inspection result shall be handled as follows:

a/ If the result shows that imported goods are conformable with announced applicable standards or relevant technical regulations, the inspection agency shall implement the provisions of Point a, Clause 2 of this Article;

b/ If the result shows that imported goods are unconformable with announced applicable standards or relevant technical regulations, the inspection agency shall implement the provisions of Point b, Clause 2 of this Article.

Article 9. Application of intensified inspection measures

1. Inspection agencies shall intensify the inspection of the import of goods which fail to meet quality requirements when marketed. The goods, apart from being inspected according to the contents specified in Article 7 and the order specified in Article 8 of this Circular, must, at the request of inspection agencies, have their conformity certified or appraised by appointed conformity assessment organizations. Importers shall pay certification or appraisal expenses to conformity assessment organizations.

2. If there are complaints or denunciations about imported goods or doubts about the conformity assessment results, the inspection agency shall, in addition to conducting inspection according to the contents specified in Article 7 and the order specified in Article 8 of this Circular, take samples of the goods for testing, specifically as follows:

a/ Based on standards on testing methods or technical regulations and standards applicable to the goods, the inspection agency shall take random samples of the imported goods sufficient for testing the necessary indicators;

b/ Taken samples must be sealed up (seal stamps are made according to Form No. 5b.TNPM provided in the Appendix to this Circular) and sampling records must be made (according to Form No. 5a.BBLM provided in the Appendix to this Circular);

c/ The samples must be sent to an appointed testing organization for testing. This organization’s testing result serves as a legal ground for the inspection agency to further handling measures in the inspection process;

d/ Within 3 days after receiving the sample testing result, the inspection agency shall send it to the importer for performing the responsibilities and obligations specified at Point e, Clause 2, and Clause 3, of this Article;

e/ Sampling and testing expenses:

Inspection agencies shall pay sampling and testing expenses serving the quality inspection of imported goods provided in Clause 2 of this Article. Sampling and testing expenses shall be included in operating fund estimates of inspection agencies.

When the testing result shows that imported goods are unconformable with announced applicable standards or relevant technical regulations, importers shall pay sampling and testing expenses to inspection agencies.

In case complaints or denunciations are lodged, if the testing result shows that imported goods are conformable with announced applicable standards or relevant technical regulations, the complainants or denouncers shall pay sampling and testing expenses to inspection agencies.

3. Within 2 working days after receiving the sample testing result specified at Point c, Clause 2 of this Article, if disagreeing with this result, the importer may request in writing the inspection agency to have the kept samples re-tested by another appointed testing organization. Such conformity assessment result serves as a ground for the inspection agency to make the final conclusion. The importer shall pay the conformity assessment expenses.

4. Irregularly or biannually, inspection agencies shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, conducting state inspection of goods quality at storage establishments of importers in the order and with the contents prescribed in the Minister of Science and Technology’s Circular No. 26/2012/TT-BKHCN of December 12, 2012, on state inspection of the quality of marketed goods.

Article 10. Fee for quality state inspection

The fee for the state inspection of imported goods quality complies with the Minister of Finance’s Circular No. 231/2009/TT-BTC of December 19, 2009, providing the collection, remittance and use management of fees in the field of standards, metrology and quality.

Chapter III

ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

Article 11. Responsibilities of the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality

1. To provide professional guidance for, and examine the operation of, appointed conformity assessment organizations and inspection agencies in the quality inspection of imported goods under the management of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

2. To direct and handle imported goods that fail to meet quality requirements which are reported by the Department for Goods Quality Management. To report the cases falling beyond its competence to the Ministry of Science and Technology for consideration and decision.

Article 12. Responsibilities of the Department for Goods Quality Management under the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality

1. To organize the quality inspection of imported goods being petrol, diesel, bio-fuel and other commodities as directed by the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality. To handle according to its competence violations of the law on product and goods quality.

2. To act as the focal point in receiving and processing information and reports from central and provincial-level inspection agencies for summarization and submission to the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality, and send reports on the situation and results of quality inspection of imported goods (made according to Form No. 6.BC provided in the Appendix to this Circular) to the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Article 13. Responsibilities of provincial-level Science and Technology Departments

1. To direct and handle according to their competence imported goods that fail to meet quality requirements as reported by provincial-level Departments for Standards, Metrology and Quality. To report the cases falling beyond their competence to provincial-level People’s Committees for consideration and decision.

2. To biannually and annually summarize and report on the situation and results of quality inspection of imported goods in their localities to provincial-level People’s Committees and the Ministry of Science and Technology (the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality). The report submission deadline is the 15th day of the last month of a reporting period.

Article 14. Responsibilities of provincial-level Departments for Standards, Metrology and Quality

1. To organize the quality inspection of goods (except those specified in Clause 1 of Article 12) at border gates in their localities. To handle according to their competence violations of the law on product and goods quality.

2. To send reports on the situation and results of quality inspection of imported goods in their localities to provincial-level Science and Technology Departments (made according to Form No. 6.BC provided in the Appendix to this Circular).

Article 15. Responsibilities of appointed conformity assessment organizations

1. To provide conformity assessment results for inspection agencies and importers within the prescribed time limit.

2. To coordinate with inspection agencies in the conformity assessment of imported goods as requested.

3. To fulfill other obligations prescribed by the law on product and goods quality.

Article 16. Responsibilities of related parties in handling imported goods which fail to meet quality requirements

1. Responsibilities of importers:

a/ To register and implement regulations on quality inspection of imported goods for imported goods on the List of group-2 goods or at the request of inspection agencies; to comply with requests of inspection agencies during intensified inspection;

b/ To comply with requests of agencies competent to decide on the re-export or destruction of goods subject to re-export or destruction.

For goods lots which must be reprocessed, to reprocess them and register for state inspection of the quality of reprocessed goods.

c/ To fulfill other obligations prescribed by the law on product and goods quality.

2. Responsibilities of inspection agencies:

a/ To transfer inspection dossiers of imported goods with quality unconformable with announced applicable standards or relevant technical regulations which are subject to re-export or destruction, to customs offices at which importers opened customs declarations when carrying out import procedures, for handling according to their competence;

b/ For imported goods with quality unconformable with announced applicable standards or relevant technical regulations which are subject to reprocessing, importers shall propose reprocessing plans to inspection agencies for reporting to superior management agencies for decision. Inspection agencies shall conduct state inspection of the quality of reprocessed goods.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 17. Effect

1. This Circular takes effect on January 27, 2013, and replaces the Minister of Science and Technology’s Circular No. 17/2009/TT-BKHCN of June 18, 2009, guiding the state inspection of the quality of imported goods under the management of the Ministry of Science and Technology; and Article 1 of the Minister of Science and Technology’s Circular No. 13/2010/TT-BKHCN of July 30, 2010, amending and supplementing a number of provisions of Circular No. 17/2009/TT-BKHCN of June 18, 2009, and Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN of February 14, 2007.

2. In the course of implementation, if the documents referred to in this Circular are amended, supplemented or replaced, the amending, supplementing or replacing documents prevail.

Article 18. Responsibilities of line ministries

Pursuant to this Circular, line ministries shall provide guidance on the state inspection of the quality of imported goods under their respective management.

Article 19. Implementation responsibilities

1. Product and goods quality inspection agencies, importers and related agencies shall implement this Circular. The Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality shall guide and examine the implementation of this Circular.

2. Inspection agencies should promptly report any difficulties or problems arising in the course of implementation to the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality for summarization and reporting to the Ministry of Science and Technology for guidance or amendment.-

For the Minister of Science and Technology
Deputy Minister
TRAN VIET THANH

Note: All the forms mentioned in this Circular are not translated.