DECISION

ON PROMULGATING THE REGULATION ON TYPE APPROVAL AND DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY  FOR PRODUCTS UNDER THE SPECIALIZED MANAGEMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF POSTS AND TELEMATICS.

MINISTER OF POSTS AND TELEMATICS

Pursuant to the May 25, 2002 Post and Telecommunications Ordinance;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 90/ 2002/ND-CP of November 11, 2002, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Post and Telematics;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 160/2004/ND-CP of September 3, 2004 detailing the implementation of a number of articles on telecommunications of the posts and telecommunications ordinance; 

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 24/2004/ND-CP 0f January 14, 2004 detailing the implementation of a number of articles on radio frequency of the posts and telecommunications ordinance;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 179/2004/ND-CP of October 21, 2004 regulating the state management on quality of goods and products;

Considering the Dispatch No. 31/QLCL-CLSP of September 12, 2006 submitted by the Director General of the Posts and Telematics Quality Control Directorate;

 At the proposals of Director General of Science and Technology Department and Director General of Legal Affairs Department,

DECIDES:

Article 1. To promulgate together with this Decision "the Regulation on Type Approval and Declaration of Conformity for products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics ".

Article 2. This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

This Decision replaces Decision No. 285/2000/QD-TCBD of March 29, 2000 of the Director General of Department General of Posts and Telecommunications Promulgating the Regulation on Type Approval of Posts and Telecommunications supplies and equipment, Decision No. 41/2004/QD BBCVT of Oct 5, 2004 of the Minister of Posts and Telematics Promulgating the Regulation on Conformity Stamp of telecommunications equipment, Decision No. 42/2004/QD-BBCVT of Oct 5, 2004 of the Minister of Posts and Telematics Promulgating the List of telecommunications equipment subject to affixing Conformity Stamp, Decision No. 43/2004/QD-BBCVT of Oct 5, 2004 of the Minister of Posts and Telematics Promulgating patterns of Conformity Stamp, Decision No. 22/2005/QD-BBCVT of Jun 30, 2005 of the Minister of Posts and Telematics on amendment of the Decision No. 42/2004/QD-BBCVT of Oct 5, 2004 of the Minister of Posts and Telematics Promulgating the List of telecommunications equipments subject to affixing Conformity Stamp.

Article 3. The General director of the Office, the General Director of Science and Technology Department, the General directors of Departments, the heads of the units of the Ministry of Post and Telematics; the heads of the concerned enterprises, organizations and individuals trading and using electronics, telecommunications and information technology products shall have to implement this Decision.

DECISION

ON PROMULGATING THE REGULATION ON TYPE APPROVAL AND DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY FOR PRODUCTS SUBJECT TO SPECIALIZED MANAGEMENT BY THE MINISTRY OF POSTS AND TELEMATICS
(Promulgated together with the Decision No. 44/2006/QD-BBCVT dated November 3, 2006 of the Minister of Posts and Telematics )

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISION

Article 1. Purposes of Type Approval and Declaration of Conformity

Type approval and Declaration of conformity are methods for sate management over the quality of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics.

Type approval is to ensure the conformity of products for inter-connection, safety of national telecommunications network, information security; Electronics Magnetic Conformity (EMC) of products and effective usage of radio frequency resource; safety and interests of users.

Declaration of Conformity is to announce with state management bodies and users about the status of standard conformity of products after a process of certifying or evaluating the quality of products.

Article 2. Scope of regulation and objects of application

1. This document stipulates regulations on type approval and declaration of conformity for products subject to specialized management by Ministry of Posts and Telematics (from now on called products for short), including: telecommunications products, radio frequency transmitters and receivers, electronics and information technology products (excluding products used for military and national security).

2. This document applies to all organizations and individuals inside and outside Vietnam (from now on called organizations and individuals for short) engaged in activities of manufacturing, importing and trading products stated in clause 1 of this article in Vietnam.

3. Products which are within the framework of international agreements or accords on mutual recognition of conformity assessment bodies signed or acceded by Vietnam will be regulated by these agreements or accords.

Article 3. Applied standards

Standards applied for products include branch standards, Vietnamese standards and international standards which are compulsory under regulation of Ministry of Posts and Telematics to apply or encouraged to apply, standards declared by organizations or individuals to apply voluntarily and conform with regulations stipulated by the law of Vietnam and international accords and agreements which Vietnam has signed or acceded.

Article 4. The Management body on type approval and declaration of conformity

1. The Management body on type approval and declaration of conformity (from now on called The management body): Posts and Telematics Quality Control Directorate under the Ministry of Posts and Telematics takes  responsibility to implement regulations stipulated by this document.

2. Certification organization: the agency supplying technical services belongs to Posts and Telematics Quality Control Directorate.

3. Contact points:

a) Northern region: 18 Nguyen Du, Ha Noi.

b) Central region: 42 Tran Quoc Toan str., Da Nang City.

c) Southern region: 27 Nguyen Binh Khiem, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. 

Article 5. Testing laboratories for type approval and declaration of conformity

1. Testing laboratories for type approval shall have to be in the list of testing laboratories announced by Ministry of Posts and Telematics.

2. Testing laboratories for declaration of conformity are those established under the rules of laws and chosen by organizations and individuals having products declared of standard-conformity.

3. Testing laboratories shall bear legal responsibilities for the accuracy of testing results. Testing results are not relevant to replace type approval certificates and notes for declaration of conformity.

Article 6. The list of products and management method

1. According to each period, Ministry of Posts and Telematics issue the following lists of products:

a) "The list of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and compulsory to be type-approved ". Organizations, individuals engaged in activities of manufacturing or importing products in this list, excluding products stipulated in the Article 7, shall have to type approve products as stipulated in Chapter II and declare standard-conformity for products as stipulated in Chapter III.

b) "The list of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and compulsory to conform with standards". Organizations, individuals engaged in activities of manufacturing or importing products in this list, excluding products stipulated in the Article 8, shall have to make declaration of conformity as stipulated in Chapter III.

2. It is encouraged to type approve and make declaration of conformity for products not included in the lists stated in clause 1 of this article.

Article 7. Cases in which type approval is not required

Products are in "The list of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and compulsory to be type-approved" but not required to be type approved in the following cases:

1. Products imported for personal use include: electronics and information technology products, fixed and mobile terminals for telecommunications and Internet services already licensed and supplied in Vietnam.

2. Imported or domestically manufactured products for demonstration, exhibition, or used as the sample for testing and type approval.

3. Radio frequency transmitters, receivers of diplomatic agencies, consulate agencies, international organization representatives in Vietnam, high-ranking delegation with diplomatic immunity privileges; temporary visit reporters and journalists (with press license issued by Ministry of foreign affairs); radio amateurs.

Article 8. Cases in which declaration of conformity is not required

Products are in the list of products stated in the clause 1 of article 6 but not required to be made declaration of conformity in following cases:

1. Cases, in which type approval is not required as stipulated in Article 7.

2. Imported or domestically manufactured products for use by importers, organizations and individuals themselves (not for trading in the market place)

Article 9. As for radio frequency transmitters and receivers

Radio frequency transmitters and receivers which are imported, domestically manufactured (excepting products manufactured for export) shall have to comply with national radio frequency plan and ensure technical requirements on frequency, emission, electronics magnetic conformity as regulated by Ministry of Posts and Telematics.

Besides following regulations on type approval and declaration of conformity as stipulated in this document, radio frequency transmitters and receivers used in the territory of Vietnam shall have to be granted by Ministry of Posts and Telematics licenses for radio frequency and radio frequency transmitters usage.

Chapter II.

TYPE APPROVAL

Section 1. TYPES, METHODS AND PROCEDURES OF TYPE APPROVAL

Article 10. Types of type approval

1. Compulsory type approval: Is the granting of type approval certificates for products in "The list of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and compulsory to be type-approved" which have technical specifications in conformity with standards of compulsory application.

2. Voluntary type approval: Is the granting of type approval certificates for products not in "The list of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and compulsory to be type-approved", which have technical specifications in conformity with standards announced by Ministry of Posts and Telematics to be applied compulsorily or declared by organizations, individuals to be applied voluntarily.

Article 11. Methods of type approval

1. Method 1: Sample testing.

This method is applied for type approval of following products:

a. Imported products.

b. Domestically manufactured products by organizations, individuals having certified quality management systems.

Type approval certificates are granted on the basis of testing results of the sample.

2. Method 2: Sample testing and evaluating conditions for quality control.

This method is applied for type approval of products manufactured domestically by organizations, individuals who have not been granted with quality management certificates.

The process of evaluating quality control conditions is done at the manufacturing site and product samples shall be taken for testing.

Type approval certificates shall be granted on the basis of testing results of sample products and evaluating results of quality control conditions.

Article 12. Procedures of Type Approval

1. For type approval under the method 1: Including following steps:

- Organizations, individuals take product samples for testing by themselves (with the number of samples required by the tests);

- Product samples are tested;

- Testing results of samples under tests are evaluated against applied standards;

- On the basis of evaluation results, Certification organization shall or shall not grant type approval certificates. In case of not granting type approval certificates, the certification organization shall notify in writing to organizations, individuals applied for type approval with reasons of refuse.

2. For type approval under the method 2: Including following steps:

- Examining at the manufacturing sites to evaluate conditions for quality control and taking product samples for testing (with the number of samples required by the tests);

- Testing product samples;

- Evaluating the conformity of testing results of product samples with applied standards;

- On the basis of evaluation results, Certification organization shall or shall not grant type approval certificates. In case of not granting type approval certificates, the certification organization shall notify in writing to organizations, individuals applied for type approval with reasons of refuse.

Article 13. Type approval certificates

1. Type approval certificates issued by Certification organization are valid through out the country.

2. Type approval certificate granted for each product type has the maximum validity of three (03) years. During the validity period of type approval certificates, organizations, individuals are allowed to manufacture, import products with no volume limit.  

3. Type approval certificate sample is given in the Annex I. In case products are type approved against voluntary standards, contents of those standards and testing results of the products are the integral parts of the type approval certificate.

Section 2. PROCEDURES FOR TYPE APPROVAL

Article 14. Dossier of application for type approval

1. The dossier of application for type approval sent to the certification organization includes:

a) Application for type approval with the sample form given in the Annex II;

b) Copies of legal documents showing the legal status of organizations, individuals as regulated by laws;

c) Related technical documents: Technical manual, usage guide book, photographs of the outside of products, software and installation instruction books; Certificates for quality control system (if applicable);

d) Testing results of products (original copy) issued by manufacturers or eligible testing laboratories which are stipulated in clause 1, article 5 and satisfy requirements in article 16;

đ) Standards of voluntary application (for voluntary type approval);

e) Manufacturing processes, quality supervision procedures (for domestic manufacturers without quality control system certificates).

2. In case, the dossier lacks testing results or testing results fail to meet requirements as stipulated in article 16, the certification organization shall guide or appoint testing laboratories to carry out tests for applying organizations, individuals.

Article 15. Time duration for processing type approval   

1. Within ten (10) working days from the date of receiving the complete and valid dossier, the certification organization shall grant type approval certificates for applying organizations, individuals or notify in writing organizations, individuals (in case type approval certificates are not granted because products do not satisfy requirements for type approval).

2. In special circumstances, when type approval process needs more time than stipulated above, the certification organization shall take responsibility to notify in writing the reasons of delay to applying organizations, individuals. The maximum time for the granting or non-granting of type approval certificates shall not exceed thirty (30) days.

Article 16. Requirements for testing results of products to be type approved

Original copies were issued within one (01) year by the date of filing the dossier for type approval and have explicit information on:

- Testing laboratories: Name, address;

- Organizations, individuals granted with testing results: Name, Address;

- Products under tests: Name, product series, manufacturer and place of manufacturing;

- Date of testing, date of granting results;

- Testing conditions and methods;

- Testing results in details for each test.

Article 17. Fees for type approval

Organizations, individuals shall have to pay fees for type approval as regulated by the Ministry of Finance.

Chapter III.

DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY

Article 18. Declaration of conformity

1. For products in the list as stated in clause 1 Article 6, before being circulated on the market, organizations, individuals shall have to make declaration of conformity with two activities as follows:

a) Making declaration of conformity in writing to management bodies with contents and procedures as stipulated in the Section 1 of this chapter.

b) Marking Conformity sign on each product to allow users to realize and state management bodies to inspect, control on the market. The marking of  conformity sign is stipulated in Section 2 of this chapter.

2. For products not in the list as stated in clause 1 Article 6, organizations and individuals are encouraged to implement clause 1 of this article.

Section 1. DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY IN WRITING

Article 19. Contents of implementation

1. Declaration of conformity in writing to management body is carried out in two steps as follows:

Step 1:  Standard conformity assessment.

- For products in "The list of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and compulsory to be type-approved ", assessment of standard conformity shall have to be carried out by the certification organization (third party).

- For products in the "The list of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and compulsory to conform with standards", assessment of standard conformity can be carried out by organizations, individuals themselves (first party) or by the certification organization.

Step 2: On the basis of assessment results, the status of standard conformity of products shall be declared in writing to management body.

2. Products are assessed against relating compulsory standards (for products in the list as stated in clause 1, Article 6) or voluntary standards (for products not in the list as stated in clause 1, Article 6).

3. Declaration of conformity is made on the basis of results of standard conformity assessment of products.

Article 20. Procedures for standard conformity assessment

1. Standard conformity assessment carried out by the certification organization: Procedures as the ones for type approval stipulated in Chapter II.

2. Standard conformity assessment carried out by organizations, individuals themselves: Procedures following steps as follows:

- Taking randomly samples as required by the tests.

- Testing sample products against relating standards at the testing laboratories chosen by organizations, individuals themselves. Priority should be put to the testing laboratories announced, designated or recognized by the Ministry of Post and Telematics.

- Conformity assessment is done by comparing testing results with specifications of relating standards.

Article 21. Procedures for declaration of conformity in writing

1. Organizations, individuals shall create the dossier for declaration of conformity as follows:

a) The dossier for declaration of conformity of products assessed by the certification organization to be in conformity with relating standards:

- The note for declaration of conformity with the sample form given in the Annex III.

b) The dossier for declaration of conformity of products  assessed by organizations, individuals themselves to be in conformity with relating standards:

- The note for declaration of conformity with the sample form given in the Annex III;

- Notarized copies of documents showing the legal status of organizations, individuals as regulated by laws;

- General descriptions of products (performance, specifications, functions);

- Self-assessment of standard conformity in together with testing results of products.

2. Organizations, individuals shall send dossiers for declaration of conformity to the management body as stipulated in Article 4.

3. The management body shall acknowledge declaration of conformity by organizations, individuals through the Acknowledgement of declaration of conformity with the sample form given in Annex IV within five (05) working days from the date of receiving complete and valid dossier.  

4. After receiving the acknowledgement of declaration of conformity, organizations, individuals shall have the right to declare the status of standard conformity of products on mass media and within thirty (30)days have to submit a notarized copy of The note of declaration of conformity and a notarized copy of the Acknowledgement of declaration of conformity to the Department of Posts and Telematics of the locality where the business license was granted.

Section 2. MARKING CONFORMITY SIGN

Article 22. Principles of marking conformity sign

1. For products in the lists as stated in clause 1, Article 6, organizations, individuals shall mark conformity sign by printing, sticking or affixing conformity signs directly on products or printing conformity signs on  product labels that are affixed to products.

2. It is encouraged to mark conformity sign on products not in the lists as stated in clause 1, Article 6 after declaration of conformity in writing of those products was made.

Article 23. Conformity sign

1. Conformity sign consists of:

a) Conformity sign for products which are compulsory to conform with standards (with the sample form given in Annex V).

This sign is applied for products in "The list of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and compulsory to conform with standards".

b) Conformity sign for products which are compulsory to be type approved (with the sample form given in Annex VI).

This sign is applied for products in "The list of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and compulsory to be type-approved ".

c) For products which are encouraged to be marked with conformity sign as stated in clause 2, Article 22, conformity sign shall be designed by organizations , individuals themselves and should have information about the names of organizations, individuals, names and codes of relating standards.

2. Dimension and layout of conformity sign:

Annex V and Annex VI figure out the dimensions of conformity sign. In accordance with the dimensions of products, conformity sign can be increased or decreased in size but should be in proportion with the standard sign and can be explicitly realized.

Colors of the background and letters of conformity sign are chosen by organizations and individuals themselves but have to be clear and durable. It is not allowed to print any letters, figures, patterns within the area of conformity sign.

In case conformity sign is printed on other materials for affixing or sticking, the materials should be chosen that conformity sign shall be broken when being barked from products and it is impossible to re-stick or re-affix conformity sign.

Article 24. Management information on conformity sign

1. Conformity sign should bear management information to serve management activities after type approval and declaration of conformity were made. Management information consists of following information (stated inAnnex V and Annex VI):

- Names of organizations, individuals;

- Management codes.

2. Names of organizations, individuals should be in full or in abbreviations chosen by organizations, individuals themselves and should not be duplicated with the names of other organizations, individuals.

3. Management codes shall be defined and managed by organizations, individuals themselves to help refer to the printing, affixing, sticking of conformity sign in accordance with types of products having been type approved.

4. Organizations, individuals shall have to notify the management body the contents of management information (names of organizations, individuals and management codes) before printing, marking conformity signs. In case, there is a duplication in the names of organizations, individuals, within ten (10) working days, the management body shall notify in writing to organizations, individuals to adjust, amend the names to ensure that the new names are not duplicated with the names being in use by other organizations, individuals.

Chapter IV.

MANAGEMNT OF PRODUCTS AFTER TYPE APPROVAL AND DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY

Article 25. Responsibilities of organizations, individuals

1. Organizations, individuals who manufacture, import products in "The list of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and compulsory to be type-approved " are only allowed to circulate products on the market after they were granted with type approval certificates or made declaration of conformity.

2. Organizations, individuals who manufacture, import products in "The list of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and compulsory to conform with standards" are only allowed to circulate products on the market after they made declaration of conformity.

3. Organizations, individuals are not allowed to circulate on the market products in "The list of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and compulsory to be type-approved" belonging to cases in which type approval is not required as stipulated in Article 7 but have not been type approved.

4. Organizations, individuals are not allowed to circulate on the market products in "The list of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and compulsory to conform with standards" belonging to cases in which declaration of conformity is not required as stipulated in Article 8 but have not been made declaration of conformity.

5. Organizations, individuals who have been granted with type approval certificates and have made declaration of conformity shall take responsibilities to maintain the quality of products as having been type approved and made declaration of conformity, take responsibilities in front of state authorities and users for provided products.

6. In the process of manufacturing or circulating on the market, if organizations, individuals discover that products supplied are not in conformity with standards as having been declared they shall have to report immediately to the management body and carry out following actions:

- Temporarily ceasing the circulation of products on the market and recalling products in circulation on the market.

- Carrying out relevant recovery actions and notifying the management body before resuming the circulation of products on the market.

Article 26. Re-granting type approval certificates

In following cases, organizations, individuals who have been granted with type approval certificates shall have to re-apply for type approval certificates:

1. Names, brand names, series of the type approved products have been changed.

2. The technical design of the type approved products has been changed leading to the changes of technical specifications of those products.

3. Type approval certificates expire.

4. Type approval certificates have been annulled.

Procedures for re-applying type approval certificates are stipulated in Chapter II.

Article 27. Re-making declaration of conformity and reporting on the changes of management information

1. Organizations, individuals shall have to re-make declaration of conformity when any change has been made to the contents of declared standards.

2. Organizations, individuals shall have to inform the management body on any changes to the management information.

Article 28. Archives and reports

1. Organizations, individuals have to archive the dossier for declaration of conformity and present to state authorities when required. The archived dossier includes:

- Type approval certificates: For products in "The list of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and compulsory to be type-approved" and voluntarily type approved products.

- The testing results of products and the note of standard conformity assessment: For products not in "The list of products subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and compulsory to be type-approved" and assessment of standard conformity was carried out by organizations, individuals themselves.

- The acknowledgement of declaration of conformity.

- Sample patterns of conformity signs being used.

2. Organizations, individuals have to log and report on the marking of conformity signs for products compulsory to be type-approved to the management body within twenty (20) days of the first and the third quarter of each year. The sample report is given in the Annex VII.

Article 29. The supervision of type-approved products by the certification organization.

1. The supervision of the certification organization over type-approved products aims at inspecting and monitoring organizations, individuals over the maintenance of the quality of type-approved products.

2. The ways of supervision to ensure the quality of products:

a) For type approval under method 1:

The supervision of products' quality is carried out on the basis of the assessment of sample products taken from the manufacturing sites or the market against type approval standards.

b) For type approval under method 2:

The supervision of products' quality is carried out on the basis of the assessment of the maintenance of conditions for ensuring products' quality by organizations, individuals who were granted with type-approval certificates, testing results of sample products taken from the manufacturing sites or the market against type approval standards. 

3. The certification organization supervises the quality of products as follows:

- Regularity: Not more than one (01) time during the valid duration of the type approval certificate.

- Extraordinariness: At the request from state authorities or when customers complaint about the quality of certified products.

Article 30. Annulment of type approval certificates

1. Te certification shall annul type-approval certificates in following cases:

-  The supervision report of products' quality shows that the quality of products was not ensured as being certified;

- Organizations, individuals who have been granted with type approval certificates do not follow regulations on type approval and declaration of conformity.

2. Organizations, individuals take responsibilities to return to the certification organization the original copies of type approval certificates which have been annulled.

Article 31. The supervision by state authorities of products which have been type approved and made declaration of conformity

1. Departments of Posts and Telematics shall take responsibilities to supervise the quality of products which have been type-approved and made declaration of conformity on the basis of The note of declaration of conformity and the Acknowledgement of declaration of conformity submitted by enterprises in the locality managed by those Departments of Posts and Telematics.

2. State authorities shall supervise the quality of products in accordance with the provisions of law.

Chapter V.

EXAMINATION, INSPECTION AND HANDLING OF VIOLATIONS

Article 32. The Posts and Telematics Inspectorate shall have to conduct regular or extraordinary examination and inspection of the observance of regulations on type approval and declaration of conformity according to the provisions of law.

Article 33. The examined and inspected organizations or individuals shall have to fully provide sample products as well as necessary information and documents related to the examination and inspection contents and take responsibility for the accuracy of the provided samples, information and documents; and to create favorable conditions for examination and inspection delegations to perform their duties.

Article 34. Violations of regulations on type approval and declaration of conformity shall be handled according to regulations stipulated in the Government's Decree No. 142/2004/NĐ-CP of July 8, 2004 on sanctioning of administrative violations in post, telecommunications and radio frequency and other relating provisions of law.

Article 35. Complaints relating to type approval and declaration of conformity shall be settled and handled in processes and procedures according to law provisions.

Chapter VI.

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 36. Organizations, individuals who manufacture, trade products in the list stated in clause 1, Article 6 shall have to mark conformity sign as stipulated in Section 2, Chapter III within ninety (90) days from the date of effect of this decision. 

For products which had been manufactured, imported and circulated in the market before the effective date as stated in this article shall not have to follow regulations on marking conformity sign as stated in Section 2, Chapter III.

Article 37. Departments of Posts and Telematics, the Department of Radio Frequency shall take responsibilities to collaborate with the Posts and Telematics Quality Control Directorate to instruct and examine the implementation of regulations on type approval and declaration of conformity in localities under their management responsibilities.

Article 38. In the course of implementation, if any problem arises, agencies, organizations and individuals should promptly report it to the Ministry of Posts and Telematics for consideration, supplement, amendment.