In addition to vehicle type approval (VTA) certificates issued by authorities in exporting countries, enterprises must submit similar certificates for some auto parts when they import cars into Vietnam.

Regulations in the Ministry of Transport’s Circular 03/2018/TT-BGTVT are stricter than those in the Government’s Decree 116

The Ministry of Transport has issued Circular 03/2018/TT-BGTVT guiding the implementation of Government Decree 116 that tightens controls on quality, technical safety and environmental protection of imported autos. The circular, which will go into force from March 1, requires certified copies of certificates on types of tires, rearview mirrors, front lights and glasses issued by competent agencies or organizations.

Decree 116 requires VTA certificates, thus making it tough for firms to import autos since January 1 as authorities in many countries do not issue such certificates.

Therefore, auto enterprises need lax guidelines for the implementation of Decree 116. However, the circular provides even stricter regulations, making life hard for auto importers.

Notably, the circular makes no mention of whether certificates must be granted by a local or foreign agency, so it can be understood that the certificates may come from both domestic and foreign competent agencies. This regulation might lead to a waste of time and money for auto importers.

The new regulation is aimed at ensuring fairness for local auto assemblers whose components have to be subject to quality inspections.

However, auto importers have asked if VTA certificates are necessary as autos must be checked by relevant agencies abroad before they are exported.

In addition, if autos have VTA certificates, it means all of their parts will meet quality requirements, so they can be exported into Vietnam without needing further documentation.

Besides, all used autos must be examined in terms of quality, technical safety and environmental protection before they are exported to Vietnam.

As for new cars, quality control agencies in foreign countries will certainly check them before they are shipped abroad. The model of each type of car must undergo emissions, quality and safety tests.

If used cars are detected with changes, importers must submit relevant documents issued by foreign competent agencies. Importers can repair cars with scratches and inactive accumulators due to long-haul transport.

Under the circular, vehicles will be recalled when automakers issue recall decisions and inspection agencies issue requests.

SGT