Though the Ministry of Science and Technology has adjusted the requirements on buying used machine imports, the regulation still faces strong opposition from the business community. 

 

In late 2014, the watchdog agency had to cancel the enforcement of Circular No 20 on prohibiting the of import old machines and technologies to Vietnam amid strong protests from businesses.

As the regulation was believed to be “impractical”, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) decided to delay the validity date of the regulation, promising to amend the circular to make it fit businesses’ current conditions.

Under the latest draft circular, only machines and equipment which still have 80 percent of the initial value will be eligible for import to Vietnam. 

However, the circular compilers decided that machines with 10-year use can also be imported. Under the canceled Circular 20, the imports must have been used for less than five years.  

Nevertheless, the looser regulations still have not satisfied businesses.

“The fixed 10-year use limit for all kinds of machines is unreasonable,” said Nguyen Van Dong, chair of the Vietnam Printing Association.

Dong noted that some kinds of equipment in the printing industry would become outdated after 10-year use, while machines made by G7 countries would be nearly brand new after 10 years of use.

“We would like to liquidate typesetting equipment or digital printing machines after five to seven years of use. Meanwhile, the printing machines manufactured in Germany, Japan or Italy like offset printing machines will still be very valuable after 20 years of use,” he said.

“You will not be able to buy high-quality products in the market, even if the products are over 10 years old, unless some printing companies close down and they want to offer their machines at a bargain,” he said. 

Dong said that a Singaporean business recently sent its staff to Vietnam to hunt for Typo printing machine made by German Heidelberg in 1970s, and that Vietnamese businesses would rather buy old machines made by the EU or G7 countries than brand new 100 percent Chinese-made products.

An expert agreed that it would be unreasonable to set limits on the “age” of the machines to be imported to Vietnam.

He cited a survey by TAT Machinery Corporation as saying that new Chinese-made 100 percent products have a life expectancy of two to five years, while South Korean machines are good for five to seven years. However, the products made by G7 countries can be used for 35-40 years.

TAT affirmed that machines with 10-year use are rare in Vietnam, accounting for one percent of the products available. Therefore, if the draft regulation is approved, 99 percent of tool machines will not be able to enter Vietnam.

Pham Huyen