Joint Circular No. 06/2013/TTLT-BKHCN-BTC-BCA-BGTVT dated February 18, 2013, on the manufacture, import, trading and use of crash helmets for motorcycle, moped and motorized bicycle riders

THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE - THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY - THE MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT

Joint Circular No. 06/2013/TTLT-BKHCN-BTC-BCA-BGTVT of February 18, 2013, on the manufacture, import, trading and use of crash helmets for motorcycle, moped and motorized bicycle riders

Pursuant to the June 14, 2005 Commercial Law;

Pursuant to the June 29, 2006 Law on Standards and Technical Regulations;

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

Pursuant to the November 13, 2008 Road Traffic Law;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 20/2012/ND-CP of February 26, 2013, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Science and Technology;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 95/2013/ND-CP of November 12, 2012, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 77/2009/ND-CP of September 15, 2009, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Public Security;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 107/2012/ ND-CP of December 20, 2012, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Transport;

The Minister of Science and Technology, the Minister of Industry and Trade, the Minister of Public Security and the Minister of Transport promulgate the Joint Circular providing the manufacture, import, trading and use of crash helmets for motorcycle, moped and motorized bicycle riders.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Joint Circular provides the manufacture, import, trading and use of crash helmets for persons operating and sitting on motorcycles, mopeds (including electric mopeds) or motorized bicycles in traffic, and responsibilities of related agencies, organizations and individuals.

Article 2. Subjects of application

This Joint Circular applies to:

1. Manufacturers, importers and traders of crash helmets for persons riding or sitting on motorcycles, mopeds (including electric mopeds) or motorized bicycles.

2. Persons riding or sitting on motorcycles, mopeds (including electric mopeds) or motorized bicycles in traffic.

3. Agencies, organizations, units and individuals involved in the manufacture, import, trading, management and use of crash helmets.

Article 3. Provisions on crash helmets, crash helmet trading

1. Crash helmets for persons who ride or sit on motorcycles, mopeds (including electric mopeds) or motorized bicycles in traffic (below referred to as crash helmets for short) are those fully bearing the following properties:

a/ Being composed of three parts: outer shell, impact-absorbing liner inside the outer shell (protective liner) and chin straps; having a design meeting the requirements prescribed in Clause 2, Article 4 of this Joint Circular;

b/ Being certified or announced to conform with regulation in accordance with national technical regulation QCVN 2: 2008/BKHCN promulgated together with Decision No. 04/2008/QD-BKHCN of April 28, 2008, of the Minister of Science and Technology; being affixed with the conformity with regulation CR stamp and labeled as prescribed by law.

2. Crash helmet trading includes crash helmet wholesale, retail and agency in Vietnam.

Article 4. Principles of management of crash helmet quality

1. Manufactured, imported or traded crash helmets, before being circulated on the market, must be certified or announced to conform with regulation in accordance with national technical regulation QCVN 2: 2008/BKHCN, be affixed with the CR stamp on their outer shells and labeled according to the law on goods labels and the provisions of Point 2.3 of national technical regulation QCVN 2: 2008/BKHCN.

The CR stamp must be clearly displayed, legible and printed directly on the crash helmet or made of waterproof, non-erasable and non-fadable material stuck on the crash helmet.

2. Crash helmets are certified or announced to conform with regulation in accordance with national technical regulation QCVN 2: 2008/BKHCN only when their designs meet the following requirements:

a/ Crash helmets with designs as prescribed in Picture 1 of national technical regulation QCVN 2: 2008/BKHCN;

b/ If crash helmets have a soft visor attached to the outer shell or a detachable visor, the visor’s width from the point of connection to the outer shell to the furthest point of the visor must not exceed 70 mm and its slanting angle must not affect the angle of vision as prescribed in national technical regulation QCVN 2: 2008/BKHCN;

c/ If crash helmets have a hard visor attached to the outer shell, the visor’s width from the point of connection to the outer shell to the furthest point of the visor must not exceed 50 mm and its slanting angle must not affect the angle of vision as prescribed in national technical regulation QCVN 2: 2008/BKHVN;

d/ If crash helmets have a hard brim, the brim must not protrude beyond 20 mm.

Chapter II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 5. Responsibilities of crash helmet manufacturers

1. To carry out certification or announcement of conformity with regulation for crash helmets they manufacture in accordance with national technical regulation QCVN 2:2008/BKHCN, to affix the CR stamp and label in accordance with the law on goods labels before putting crash helmets into circulation on the market.

2. To be held accountable for crash helmets they manufacture and circulate on the market.

3. To sign contracts on supply of crash helmets for crash helmet traders.

4. To supply 2 certified true copies of the regulation conformity certificate or 2 certified true copies of the written notification of receipt of the regulation conformity announcement for each crash helmet trader that has signed the contract mentioned in Clause 3 of this Article.

5. Within 7 working days after completing crash helmet quality control measures, to notify in writing and send to the commune-level People’s Committees, the Market Management Sub-Departments and provincial-level Departments of Science and Technology of the localities where the crash helmet manufacturers register their business the certified true copies of documents related to crash helmet quality (regulation conformity certificates, written notification of receipt of regulation conformity announcement, technical documents and use manuals).

Article 6. Responsibilities of crash helmet importers

1. To carry out the standard conformity certification for crash helmets they import according to national technical regulation QCVN 2: 2008/BKHCN; to submit to the state quality inspection of imported goods, affix the CR stamps to and label crash helmets according to the law on goods labels before circulating crash helmets on the market.

2. To be held accountable for the quality of crash helmets they import and circulate on the market.

3. To sign contracts on supply of crash helmets for crash helmet traders.

4. To provide 2 certified true copies of the regulation conformity certificate or 2 certified true copies of the written notification of the result of state quality inspection of imported goods to each crash helmet trader that has signed the contract mentioned in Clause 3 of this Article.

5. Within 7 working days after completing crash helmet quality control measures, to notify in writing and send to the commune-level People’s Committees, the Market Management Sub-Departments and provincial-level Departments of Science and Technology of the localities where the crash helmet importers register their business the certified true copies of documents related to crash helmet quality (regulation conformity certificates or written notification of the result of state quality inspection of imported goods; technical documents and use manuals).

Article 7. Responsibilities of crash helmet traders

1. To trade in crash helmets which have been:

a/ Certified or announced to conform with regulation in accordance with national technical regulation QCVN 2: 2008/BKHCN;

b/ Affixed with the CR stamps of their manufacturers or importers;

c/ Labeled in accordance with the law on goods labels.

2. To produce the certified true copies of the quality certificate (regulation conformity certificate, written notification of the receipt of regulation conformity announcement for home-made crash helmets; regulation conformity certificate or written notification of the result of state quality inspection of imported goods for imported crash helmets); certified true copies of crash helmet trading contracts with crash helmet manufacturers or traders, when so requested by competent persons or agencies.

3. Within 7 working days after receiving crash helmets for sale, to notify in writing and send to the commune-level People’s Committees (of the localities where crash helmets are traded) the certified true copies of documents related to crash helmet quality (regulation conformity certificates or written notification of the receipt of regulation conformity announcement, written notification of the result of state quality inspection of imported goods, technical documents and use manuals) provided by crash helmet manufacturers or importers.

Article 8. Responsibilities of persons riding or sitting on motorcycles, mopeds or motorized bicycles

Persons riding or sitting on motorcycles, mopeds (including electric mopeds) or motorized bicycles in traffic shall:

1. Wear a crash helmet as provided by law.

2. Fasten the chin strap according to the following provisions:

a/ Pull the chin straps to both sides, put on the helmet and fasten the straps. Do not let the straps loose but fasten them tight to the chin;

b/ After putting on the crash helmet, check it in the following way: Pull by hand the helmet from behind to front or raise the part above the forehead (or the part covering the chin, for full-face crash helmets), then pull it backward; the crash helmet must not slide off the head.

Article 9. Inspection and examination of the manufacture, import, trading and use of crash helmets

1. Crash helmet manufacturers, importers, traders and users are subject to the inspection and examination by competent state agencies.

2. The inspection and examination of the manufacture, import, trading and use of crash helmets must be carried out within the functions and competence of competent state agencies and in accordance with the laws on inspection and examination.

Article 10. Guidance on handling of violations

1. Crash helmet manufacturers, importers or traders violating the provisions of this Joint Circular and other relevant laws shall, depending on the nature and severity of their violations, be handled in accordance with law, specifically:

a/ To be administratively sanctioned according to the law on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of standardization, metrology and product and goods quality for the manufacture or import of crash helmets without carrying out the regulation conformity certification or announcement and fixing the CR stamps;

b/ To be administratively sanctioned according to the law on sanctioning of administrative violations in trading activities and other relevant laws on handling of administrative violations for:

- Manufacturing, importing or trading in crash helmets in violation of the regulations on goods labels such as crash helmets with torn labels, labels with unreadable content or hidden labels, or without labels;

- Manufacturing, importing or trading in crash helmets in violation of the regulations on compulsory contents to be displayed on goods labels such as helmet name; name and address of manufacture or names and addresses of importer and distributor; origin of goods (for imported helmets); helmet size; date of manufacture;

- Manufacturing, importing or trading in fake crash helmets causing misunderstanding of the use value, utility, source, place of manufacture, place of packaging or place of assembly;

- Manufacturing, importing or trading in crash helmets with goods labels identical or similar to those of other establishments which have applied quality control measures as prescribed in national technical regulation QCVN 2: 2008/BKHCN;

- Manufacturing, importing or trading in hats that have the appearance of crash helmets, without taking quality control measures as prescribed in national technical regulation QCVN 2: 2008/BKHCN, or that do not have all three parts described at Point a, Clause 1, Article 3 of this Joint Circular;

- Manufacturing, importing and trading in crash helmets in violation of Clauses 3, 4 and 5 of Article 5; Clauses 3, 4 and 5 of Article 6; Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 7, of this Joint Circular.

c/ To be administratively sanctioned according to the law on sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of standardization, metrology and product and goods quality and the law on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of protection of consumer interests, for the manufacture, import and trading in poor-quality crash helmets;

d/ To be administratively sanctioned according to the law on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of protection of consumer interests, for trading in crash helmets in violation of regulations on provision of information relating to crash helmets to consumers.

2. Persons riding or sitting on motorcycles, mopeds (including electric mopeds) or motorized bicycles in traffic and violating the regulations on wearing of crash helmets, shall be administratively sanctioned according to the Government’s regulations on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of traffic.

Article 11. Responsibilities of the Ministry of Science and Technology

1. To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Transport in, organizing the implementation of this Joint Circular.

2. To direct the science and technology inspectorates to coordinate with the market management agencies of the industry and trade sector and other related agencies in carrying out the inspection, examination and handling of violations committed by crash helmet manufacturers, importers or traders  according to this Joint Circular and relevant current regulations.

Article 12. Responsibilities of the Ministry of Industry and Trade

To direct the market management force to assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the science and technology inspectorates, the economic management order and position-related crime investigation police of the People’s Public Security, the People’s Committees at all levels and related agencies in, conducting the inspection, examination and handling of violations committed by crash helmet manufacturers, importers or traders according to this Joint Circular and relevant current regulations.

Article 13. Responsibilities of the Ministry of Public Security

1. To direct the economic management order and position-related crime investigation police to coordinate with the market management agencies and the science and technology inspectorates in conducting inspection, examination and handling of violations committed by crash helmet manufacturers, importers and traders in areas under their management.

2. To direct the traffic police, other police forces and commune public security forces to intensify patrol for control and handling of violations committed by persons riding or sitting on motorcycles, mopeds (including electric mopeds) or motorized bicycles who breach the provisions of this Joint Circular and relevant current regulations.

3. To direct commune/ward/township public security forces to intensify the inspection and handling of violations committed by organizations and individuals engaged in trading activities in areas under their management.

Article 14. Responsibilities of the Ministry of Transport

To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the National Traffic Safety Committee in, stepping up public information and education about the wearing of crash helmets in accordance with national technical regulations QCVN 2: 2008/BKHCN.

Article 15. Responsibilities of the People’s Committees at different levels

To direct local agencies to coordinate with local market management agencies, science and technology inspectorates and economic management order and position-related crime investigation police in intensifying the inspection, examination and handling of violations committed by crash helmet manufacturer, importers or traders in their localities according to this Joint Circular and relevant current regulations.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 16. Effect

1. This Circular takes effect on May 15, 2013.

2. If the national technical regulations referred in this Joint Circular are amended, supplemented or replaced, the amended, supplemented or new national technical regulations will apply.

Article 17. Implementation responsibility

1. Heads of agencies and units under the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Transport shall, within the ambit of their respective functions, tasks and powers, organize the implementation of this Joint Circular.

2. Any problems arising in the course of implementation should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Science and Technology for consultation and agreement with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Transport for consideration and settlement according to competence.-

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

For the Minister of Industry and Trade
Deputy Minister
LE DUONG QUANG

For the Minister of Public Security
Deputy Minister
PHAM QUY NGO

For the Minister of Transport
Deputy Minister
LE MANH HUNG