3RD DRAFT
MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY------
/ SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAMIndependence - Freedom – Happiness
------
No.20/2014/TT-BKHCN
/ Hanoi, July 15, 2014CIRCULAR
REGULATIONS ON THE IMPORTATION OF USED MACHINERY, EQUIPMENT AND PRODUCTION LINE
Pursuant to Decree No. 20/2013/ND-CP dated 26 December 02, 2013 of the Government on defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Science and Technology;
Pursuant to Decree No. 187/2013/ND-CP November 20, 2013 of the Government on detailing the implementation of the Law on Commerce regarding the international goods sale and purchase and agencies of purchasing, selling, processing and transiting goods with foreign countries;
Pursuant to Decree No. 132/2008/ND-CP dated December 31, 2008 of the Government on detailing the implementation of some articles of the Law on Product Quality and goods;
At the request of the Director of Assessment, Evaluation and Technology Assessment;
The Minister of Science and Technology promulgates the Circular on providing for the importation of used machinery, equipment and production lines.
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Scope
1. This Circular specifies the eligibility criteria, dossiers and procedures for importation, and inspection arrangements for used plant, equipment and production lines, including components, spare parts and replacements for use in domestic business activities.
Plant, equipment, components, spare parts and replacements[1] with HS codes specified in the List of allowed imports and exports in Vietnam, annexed to Circular 156/2011/TT-BTC, dated Nov. 14, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance, specifically in the following Chapters:
a) Chapter 84. Nuclear reactors, boilers, mechanical machinery and equipment, and their components: HS codes of 84.02 – 84.87;
b) Chapter 85. Electric machinery and equipment, and their components; sound recorders and playback equipment, television video and sound recorder and playback equipment, and components and accessories of the above mentioned equipment: HS codes of 85.01 – 85.05; 85.07 – 85.09; 85.11; 85.14; 85.15; 85.18 – 85.22; 85.24 – 85.33; 85.35; 85.36; 85.43; 85.45 – 85.48;
Notes 1:
- Relevant ministries and line agencies are invited to review and give specific feedbacks on the above mentioned HS codes.
- Chapters 87 and 87 herein have been removed upon request of the Ministry of Transport, which is expected to give its official comment on it.
2. This Circular shall not apply to the importation of the following used plant, equipment and production lines:
a) Goods in transit and transshipment;
b) Temporarily imported and re-exported goods (except for outsourcing agreements, importation for production purposes, construction as part of investment projects); and temporarily exported and re-imported goods;
c) For performance of repair and maintenance service agreements;
d) For research and development of technologies that are unavailable domestically;
dd) For takeover from domestic export-processing zones and export-processing companies (that are not based in export-processing zones); and between export-processing zones;
e) For national defense and security purposes;
g) In-kind aids from foreign non-governmental organizations; humanitarian and non-refund aids from governmental organizations, United Nations organizations, inter-governmental organizations, foreign business entities or private individuals provided through official agreements between the parties involved and approved by relevant authorities;
h) Items presented as gifts and donations for humanitarian purposes;
i) Plant and equipment that fall under the List of potentially unsafe products and goods (List of Category 2 products) released by the Ministry of Transport under the provisions of the Law on Product and Goods Quality, and spare parts, components and replacements of such plant and equipment.
Notes 2:
Relevant ministries and line agencies are invited to review the released List of Category 2 products and apply for any items that have been regulated, including used plant and equipment to be excluded from this Circular.
Article 2. Applicability
This Circular applies to:
1. State-owned enterprises,[2] organizations and private individuals importing used plant, equipment and production lines for business purposes;
2. Regulatory agencies involved in the importation of used plant, equipment and production lines referred to in Article 1 of this Circular.
Article 3. Terms and definitions
In this Circular, the following terms shall be construed as designated below.
1. Plant and equipment refer to a combination of interlinked items and components, of which at least an item or component have physical movements with relevant driving or controlling mechanisms and electric circuits, being pieced together with customized applications, particularly for use in manufacturing, processing, moving or packaging materials.
Notes 3:
Please give specific comments on the terms “plant and equipment” above and what may need to be changed.
2. Production lines are equipment, tool and instrument systems installed based on schematics and technological processes that ensure coherent operation for the manufacture of products.
3. A comprehensive production line is one that incorporates equipment, tools and instruments supplied, manufactured and installed in accordance with the designated design at a same time, having the appropriate output/efficiency throughout the line, and can be used automatically or semi-automatically.
4. “Using time” (in years) means a defined period from their manufacturing to importation, until open customs declaration.
5. “Remaining quality (in percent) compared with the original quality” means the acceptable rate of specifications of used machinery, equipment and production lines compared with these of brand-new machinery, equipment and production lines.
Article 4. Principles of the importation management
1. Encourage enterprises to import new machinery, equipment and production lines, which are manufactured by the advanced technology.
2. Used machinery, equipment and production lines being imported must meet the requirements of quality, safety, energy saving and environment protection.
3. Used machinery, equipment and production lines being imported must meet both the conditions stipulated in this Circular and the current regulations of the Government, ministries and regulatory agencies on the importation of goods.
Article 5. Used machinery, equipment and production lines banned from the importation.
Those banned from the importation shall be specified in the followings:
1. The list of banned imports, issued together with Decree No. 187/2013/ND-CP dated November 20, 2013 by the Government on detailing the implementation of the Commercial Law regarding international goods trading and agent activities of purchasing, selling, processing and transiting goods with foreign goods.
2. The list of used goods banned from import and list of used vehicles banned from import, issued together with Circular No. 04/2014/TT-BCT 2014 dated January 27, 2014 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on detailing the implementation of several articles of Decree No. 187/2013/ND-CP dated November 20, 2013 of the Government on detailing the implementation of the Commercial Law regarding international goods trading and agent activities for purchasing, selling, processing and transiting goods with foreign countries.
3. The list of used IT products banned from import, issued together with the Circular No. 11/2012/TT-BTTTT dated July 17, 2012 by the Ministry of Information and Communications on specifying the list of used IT products banned from the importation.
4. The list of used goods banned from import, issued by other Ministries and regulatory agencies in compliance with the provisions of Decree No. 187/2013/ND-CP dated November 20, 2013 of the Government on detailing the implementation of the Commercial Law regarding international goods trading and agency’s activities of purchasing, selling, processing and transiting goods with foreign countries.
Notes 4:
Ministries and line agencies with existing normative regulations on used plant and equipment banned from importation in place are invited to provide details about such specific legislation for reference updates in this Circular.
CHAPTER II
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR IMPORTATION OF USED PLANT, EQUIPMENT AND PRODUCTION LINES
Article 6. Eligibility criteria for importation of used plant and equipment
Used plant and equipment may be imported if they meet the following requirements:
1. Not falling under the categories specified in Article 5 of this Circular;
2. Meeting the requirements for safety, energy efficiency and environment-friendliness of existing laws and regulations;
3. Being in line with the industry’s master plan for development approved by the Prime Minister;
4. Used plant and equipment to be imported by state-owned enterprises: service length of no longer than 10 years and 80% remaining quality or higher;
5. Used plant and equipment to be imported by non-public organizations and private individuals (hereinafter collectively referred to as “other importers”) shall meet either the following two requirements:
a) Service length of no longer than 10 years, or
b) Remaining quality of 80% or higher.
Article 7. Eligibility criteria for importation of used production lines
Used production lines may be imported if they meet the following requirements:
1. Not falling under the categories specified in Article 5 of this Circular;
2. Meeting the requirements for safety, energy efficiency and environment-friendliness of existing laws and regulations;
3. Being in line with the industry’s master plan for development approved by the Prime Minister;
4. Having 80% remaining quality or higher compared to the original state.
Article 8. Eligibility criteria for importation of components, spare parts and replacements
Imported components, spare parts and replacements shall meet the following requirements:
1. Being technically compatible with the designated plant and equipment that needs replacement or repairs;
2. Not yet readily available domestically;
3. Having 70% or higher remaining quality.
CHAPTER III
PROCEDURES FOR IMPORTATION OF USED PLANT, EQUIPMENT AND PRODUCTION LINES
Article 9. Procedures for importation of used plant and equipment
1. Importing state-owned enterprises
Importing state-owned enterprises shall complete importing procedures at the designated customs office in charge of the importation. Apart from the normally required importing documents, one set of dossier shall be submitted to the customs office, including:
a) Technical documents demonstrating the year of manufacture of the imported plant and equipment: user manual (guide) or year of manufacture certificate issued by the manufacture in original;
b) Quality inspection certificate, containing key information as specified in Article 13.2 of this Circular, issued by a qualified inspecting agency as defined in Article 15 of this Circular, and in original.
2. Other importers shall complete importing procedures at the designated customs office in charge of the importation. Apart from the normally required importing documents, one set of dossier shall be submitted to the customs office, including:
a) Where the “service length” requirement specified in Article 6.5.a of this Circular applies:
- Technical documents demonstrating the year of manufacture of the imported plant and equipment, user manual (guide) or year of manufacture certificate issued by the manufacture in original;
- Warranty of the required quality standard being met as mandated in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, Article 6 of this Circular from the importing organization or individual or inspection certificate (for plant and equipment imported by non-public entities) – original; a sample warranty paper is provided in Annex I of this Circular.
b) Where the “remaining quality” requirement specified in Article 6.5.b of this Circular applies: quality inspection certificate, with the key information required in Article 13.2 of this Circular, issued by a qualified inspecting agency as defined in Article 15 of this Circular, in original.
3. The customs office shall, based on the documents submitted by the importers, verify if the used plant and equipment meet the eligibility criteria for importation specified in Article 6 of this Circular, and proceed with customs clearance in accordance with prevailing regulations.
3. In case of plant and equipment that require a quality certificate, which at the time of importation has not been submitted to the customs, the customs office shall rely on prevailing rules on specialized inspection or the importers’ explicit requests for decision making on whether to allow the merchandise to be temporarily relocated to an warehouse. The importers shall be responsible for maintaining the merchandise at the designated inspection site or their own storage facility until the customs office releases a clearance note.
4. In addition to the above requirements, importers shall also adhere to other prevailing rulings of the government and relevant ministries pertaining to the importation of plant and equipment.
Article 10. Dossiers and procedures for importation of used production lines
1. State-owned enterprises and other importers shall complete importing procedures at the designated customs office in charge of the importation. Apart from the normally required importing documents, the importers shall also submit to the customs office one quality inspection certificate in original, containing the key information required in Article 13.2 of this Circular, issued by a qualified inspecting agency as defined in Article 15 of this Circular.
Inspection shall be done by the inspecting agency in the exporting country before the production line is disassembled and packaged for shipment.
2. The customs office shall, based on the documents submitted by the importers, verify if the used production line meets the eligibility criteria for importation specified in Article 7 of this Circular, and proceed with customs clearance in accordance with prevailing regulations.
Article 11. Dossiers and procedures for importation of components, spare parts and replacements
1. State-owned enterprises and other importers shall complete importing procedures at the designated customs office in charge of the importation. Apart from the normally required importing documents, the importers shall also submit to the customs office a written declaration stating the intent of importation, designated functionality of the components, spare parts and replacements to be imported, and giving warranty of their quality meeting the requirements of Article 8, this Circular (original). A sample statement is provided in Annex I of this Circular.
2. The customs office shall, based on the documents submitted by the importers, verify if the used components, spare parts and replacements meet the eligibility criteria for importation specified in Article 8 of this Circular, and proceed with customs clearance in accordance with prevailing regulations.
Article 12. Reassessment of quality
In the process of customs clearance, should there be grounds to suspect that the quality of the plant, equipment, production line, components, spare parts and replacements to be imported does not match that stated in the quality certificate or the importer’s warranty, the customs office may demand reassessment. In case a match of the quality assessment results between the inspecting agencies cannot be reached, the Ministry of Science and Technology shall be giving the final decision.