Laws of Vietnam

1. Regulation objects and application scope:

1.1. This Circular prescribes the conditions to be met by goods-expertising service providing enterprises defined in Point 1.2 of this Circular, and the procedures for inspecting such enterprises’ qualifications and granting them qualification certificates, so that they can be invited by the competent State agencies to conduct the goods expertise in service of the State management.

1.2. This Circular applies to enterprises doing business in goods-expertising service provision as defined in Clause 1, Article 3 of the Government’s Decree No.20/1999/ND-CP of April 12, 1999, namely goods-expertising service providing enterprises with 100% of domestic capital established under the current Vietnamese laws (hereinafter referred to the expertising enterprises for short).

1.3. The conditions and procedures for inspecting and certifying the conditions prescribed in Sections 2 and 3 of this Circular shall not apply to the non-business technical agencies attached to the specialized managing ministries, which have the function of inspecting the goods quality in service of the State management (hereinafter referred to as the inspecting agencies for short).

1.4. Together with the inspecting agencies, the expertising enterprises shall, after being inspected and granted notices certifying their qualifications, be allowed to conduct the goods expertise in service of the State management at the competent State agency’s written official requests for expertise.

2. The conditions to be met by the invited expertising enterprises

Expertising enterprises invited by the competent State agency(ies) to conduct the goods expertise in service of the State management must meet the following conditions:

2.1. Having been granted one of the following certificates (still valid):

a/ Certificate of the system’s quality compatibility with the Vietnamese standards TCVN - ISO 9000;

b/ Certificate recognizing the expertising organization’s compatibility with the Vietnamese standards TCVN 5957 - 1995 (equivalent to ISO 17020);

c/ Certificate recognizing the testing room’s compatibility with the Vietnamese standards TCVN 5958 - 1995 (equivalent to ISO 17025).

2.2. Having qualified experts and facilities as well as equipment for directly testing the important and substantial specifications of goods registered for expertise.

3. The procedures for inspecting and certifying the qualifications for goods expertise in service of the state management

3.1. The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment assigns the General Department of Standardization, Measurement and Quality (hereinafter referred to as the SMQ General Department for short) to organize the inspection of expertise conditions and grant notices certifying the expertising enterprises’ qualifications for goods expertise in service of the State management.

3.2. The expertising enterprises that wish to conduct the goods expertise in service of the State management shall have to send their dossiers to the SMQ General Department. Each dossier shall comprise:

a/ The written registration for inspection of conditions for goods expertise in service of the State management;

b/ The valid copy of the business registration certificate;

c/ The copy of one of the certificates specified in Point 2.1 of this Circular;

d/ The list of experts;

e/ The list of testing facilities and equipment.

3.3. The procedures for inspecting and certifying the conditions for goods expertise in service of the State management:

3.3.1. If the dossier is invalid or incomplete, after 03 (three) days from the date the dossier is received, the SMQ General Department shall notify in writing the concerned expertising enterprise thereof for supplement.

3.3.2. Within 07 (seven) days after receiving the complete and valid dossiers, the SMQ General Department shall have to complete the inspection of the expertising enterprises in terms of their conditions as prescribed in Section 2 of this Circular. In cases where the goods registered by an expertising enterprise is of a particular type (specified in the Government’s Decree No.86/CP of December 8, 1995), the inspection shall involve the representatives of the specialized managing ministries.

3.3.2.1. Basing itself on the inspection results, the SMQ General Department shall issue a notice certifying the qualifications for goods expertise in service of the State management to the expertising enterprise, and at the same time notify in writing the competent State agencies thereof, in order that the later may have basis and grounds to invite the expertise when necessary.

This notice shall not substitute for the written expertise request of the competent State agency.

3.3.2.2. In cases where an expertising enterprise fails to meet the conditions prescribed in Section 2 of this Circular, the SMQ General Department shall notify in writing such enterprise thereof, so that the latter can take remedial measures. After taking remedial measures, such enterprise may request the re-inspection.

3.4. Expertising enterprises shall have to promptly notify in writing any changes to the conditions prescribed in Section 2 of this Circular as compared with those at the time of inspection, to the SMQ General Department. The SMQ General Department shall have to organize the re-inspection, then issue additional appropriate notices thereof.

3.5. The concerned expertising enterprises shall have to pay an inspection fee as prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.

4. The inspection after the granting of notices certifying the qualifications for goods expertise in service of the state management

4.1. The SMQ General Department shall inspect the expertising enterprises already certified of their qualifications for goods expertise in service of the State management once a year; or organize irregular inspections, when it deems it necessary, if the concerned parties complain about the expertise results. In cases where the goods expertised by the enterprises are of particular type, such inspection shall be participated by representatives of the specialized managing ministries.

4.2. Through the inspection results, if the expertising enterprises fail to meet the conditions prescribed in this Circular, the SMQ General Department shall issue notices to invalidate the notices certifying the qualifications for goods expertise in service of the State management previously granted to the assessing enterprises, and at the same time notify in writing the competent State agencies defined at Point 3.3.2.1 of this Circular thereof.

4.3. The expertising enterprises may lodge complaints according to the provisions of the December 2, 1998 Law on Complaints and Denunciations about acts of violating the provisions of this Circular committed by officials, State employees and/or agencies in the course of conducting the inspection and granting notices certifying qualifications for goods expertise in service of the State management.

5. Organization of implementation

5.1. The competent State agencies may invite the inspecting agencies or the qualified expertising enterprises to expertise goods in service of the assigned State management tasks.

5.2. The competent State agencies shall make the written request for expertise, which must contain the following details besides other information:

a/ Appellation of goods requested to be expertised;

b/ Expertise content (clearly stating the expertise criteria and requirements);

c/ Prescribed inspection and testing method(s);

d/ The required duration.

5.3. Within 02 (two) days, after receiving the written expertise request, the inspecting agency or expertising enterprise shall have to reply in writing the expertise-requesting agency about its capability for and expected level of performance of the requested expertise contents.

5.4. The regulations on the expertise certificate, the legality of the expertise certificate, the re-expertise of results stated in the expertise certificate shall comply with the provisions in Chapter III of the Government’s Decree No.20/1999/ND-CP of April 12, 1999.

5.5. The expertising fee shall be paid by the expertise requesting agency to the inspecting agency or the expertising enterprise as agreed upon by the two sides.

6. Implementation provisions

6.1. This Circular takes effect 15 days after its signing.

6.2. Any difficulties or problems arising in the course of implementation should be reported to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment for consideration and solution.

Minister of Science, Technology and Environment
CHU TUAN NHA