Decision No. 34/2005/QD-BGTVT Issuing Regulations on Quality Inspection, Technical Safety, and Environmental Protection in the Production and Assembly of Motor Vehicles

Pursuant to …;

Issuing Regulations on Quality Inspection, Technical Safety

and Environmental Protection in the Production and Assembly of Motor Vehicles

__________________

 

THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORTATION

WHEREAS, the Road Traffic Law dated June 29, 2001;

Pursuant to Decree No. 179/2004/NĐ-CP dated October 21, 2004 of the Government on State Management of Product Quality;

Pursuant to Decree No. 34/2003/NĐ-CP dated April 4, 2003 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Transport;

At the proposal of: The Director of the Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Agency, the Head of the Science and Technology Department, the Head of the Legal Affairs Department,

 

DECISION:

 

Article 1. These Regulations on Quality Inspection, Technical Safety and Environmental Protection in the Production and Assembly of Motor Vehicles are hereby issued together with this Decision.

Article 2. This Decision shall take effect 15 days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette and shall replace Decisions No. 2069/2000/QĐ-BGTVT and Decision No. 2070/2000/QĐ-BGTVT dated July 28, 2000 of the Minister of Transport.

Article 3. The Director of the Office, Heads of the Science and Technology Department, Legal Affairs Department, Transportation Department, Vietnam Highway Administration, Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Agency, Directors of Provincial Departments of Transport/Transport and Public Works, and heads of relevant agencies and units are responsible for implementing this Decision./.

 

REGULATIONS

On quality inspection, technical safety, and environmental protection in production,

assembly of motor vehicles

______________

 

(Issued together with Decision No. 34/2005/QĐ-BGTVT dated July 21, 2005)

of the Ministry of Transport)

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

Article 1. Scope and Applicability

1. This document stipulates the inspection of quality, technical safety, and environmental protection of various types of motor vehicles produced or assembled from entirely new parts or from chassis, new motor vehicles without registration plates.

2. Enterprises producing parts, assembling motor vehicles, and organizations or agencies related to vehicle inspection and testing must comply with these Regulations.

3. These Regulations do not apply to the following:

Motorcycles, scooters;

Motor vehicles produced or assembled for use in national defense and security purposes by the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security.

Article 2. Interpretation of Terms

In this Regulation, the following terms shall be understood as follows:

Motor vehicles is defined as a type of road motor vehicle as per the latest version of the Vietnamese Standard TCVN 6211 and TCVN 7271;

Chassis is a semi-finished vehicle capable of self-propulsion, with or without a driver's cabin, without cargo space, without passenger compartments, and without specialized equipment attached;

Main assembly is the engine, frame, driver's cabin, body, or cargo box, or specialized equipment installed on the vehicle;

System" is the power transmission system, drive system, suspension system, braking system, steering system, fuel system, electrical system, lighting and signaling systems;

spare parts are assemblies, systems, and components used for assembling motor vehicles;

Product are parts or motor vehicles;

products of the same type are products of the same industrial owner, brand, design, and technical specifications, manufactured using the same technology;

Type Approval is the process of inspecting, testing, reviewing, evaluating, and certifying the compliance of a product type with current standards and regulations regarding quality, technical safety, and environmental protection;

Typical sample is the product selected by the manufacturer according to regulations for inspection and testing;

Production facility is an enterprise producing parts or assembling motor vehicles that meets the conditions set forth in current regulations;

Design entity is an organization or individual engaged in the business of designing motor vehicles according to current regulations;

Quality Management Agency (referred to as the Quality Control Authority) is the Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Agency under the Ministry of Transport;

testing facility is an organization or individual, domestic or foreign, operating in the field of component or motor vehicle testing, evaluated and approved by the Quality Control Authority;

Chapter II

REGULATIONS ON QUALITY INSPECTION, TECHNICAL SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

 

Article 3. Design Documents and Design Review

Design Documents

The design documents for motor vehicles established by the Design Entity shall be submitted in three copies to the Regulatory Authority for review, including:

a) Technical drawings:

- General layout drawing of the product;

- Assembly drawings of complete units and systems;

- Drawings and technical specifications of components, complete units, and systems produced domestically;

- Technical specifications and performance characteristics of imported complete units and systems.

The technical drawings must be presented according to current Vietnamese standards.

b) Calculation description including the following contents:

- Description of basic technical characteristics of the product;

- Calculations of dynamic and dynamic performance characteristics;

- Durability test calculations.

Design review

a) Design review is the examination and verification of the contents of the design documents against current standards and regulations to ensure that the products manufactured and assembled meet quality, technical safety, and environmental protection requirements.

b) The design review shall be conducted within fifteen days from the date of receipt of complete and valid documents.

c) After the review, the design documents shall be transferred to the Design Entity, Production Entity, and stored at the Regulatory Authority.

Exemption from Design Documents

For motor vehicles produced and assembled according to foreign designs bearing foreign brand names, the Production Entity may be exempted from preparing design documents if it provides the following substitute documents:

a) General layout drawing of the product;

b) A copy of the certificate issued by the competent authority of a foreign country for the type of product;

c) A statement from the technology transfer party confirming that the product produced and assembled in Vietnam has equivalent quality to the original prototype.

Article 4. Inspection Documents

To obtain certification for each type of product, the Production Entity shall prepare one set of inspection documents (referred to as the document set) and submit it to the Regulatory Authority.

Documents for Parts

For types of parts required to be inspected as specified in Appendix I of this Regulation, the document set includes:

a) Technical drawings with product specifications;

b) Product photographs; Description of symbols and serial numbers on the product (if applicable);

c) Registration form of technical specifications along with corresponding technical standards;

d) Description of production technology process and quality control process.

Documents for Motor Vehicles include:

e) Design documents reviewed by the Regulatory Authority or substitute documents as stipulated in points a, b, and c of Clause 3 of Article 3;

f) Photographs of the appearance, registration form of technical specifications along with corresponding technical standards;

g) Statistics of domestic and imported complete units and systems used in the production and assembly of the product;

h) Copy of the certificate of type approval for domestic parts as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article. For imported parts listed in the inspection list in Appendix I attached to this Regulation, the Motor Vehicle Production and Assembly Entity must provide a copy of one of the following documents:

- A statement from a foreign or domestic organization confirming that the imported part has been tested according to mutual recognition agreements or accords to which Vietnam is a signatory;

- A statement from the foreign part manufacturer confirming that the part type meets current Vietnamese standards;

- Test report from the Testing Entity (as stipulated in Clause 13 of Article 2) confirming that the part meets current Vietnamese standards.

i) Description of production and assembly technology processes and quality control processes;

j) Quality inspection results of the Production Entity for sample products at various stages of production and assembly;

k) Description of chassis number and engine number stamping methods and locations;

l) User manual and warranty documentation.

Article 5. Testing of Typical Samples

1. The items to be inspected and tested shall be specified in Appendix I attached hereto.

2. The testing facility shall conduct testing of typical samples in accordance with current standards; prepare a report on the test results and be responsible for its own test results. In necessary cases, the Quality Control Authority may directly supervise the testing process.

Article 6. Evaluation of Product Quality Inspection Conditions at Production Facilities

Responsibilities of Production Facilities

To ensure the maintenance of quality for mass-produced products, production facilities have the responsibility to:

Develop quality inspection procedures for each type of product;

Equip necessary inspection devices for each production stage. The minimum list of equipment required for conducting final vehicle quality inspections is stipulated in Appendix II attached hereto; these inspection devices must be inspected and confirmed operational by the Quality Control Authority annually;

Have technical inspectors who perform product quality inspections certified by foreign manufacturers (technology transfer parties) or the Quality Control Authority, in accordance with the type of product being manufactured or assembled;

The Quality Control Authority has the responsibility to conduct evaluations of product quality inspection conditions at production facilities through the following methods:

Initial assessment Conducted when issuing certificates in accordance with Article 7;

Annual evaluation Conducted when revalidating certificate effectiveness in accordance with Article 9;

Unannounced evaluation Conducted when production facilities violate regulations related to quality inspections or when there are complaints about product quality;

The contents of evaluating product quality inspection conditions at production facilities shall be specifically guided by the Quality Control Authority;

For similar types of products without changes in inspection procedures, the Quality Control Authority only conducts an evaluation of quality inspection conditions for the first type of product;

Article 7. Issuance of Certificates

1. Based on the dossier as prescribed in Article 4, the report on the testing results of typical samples as prescribed in Article 5, and the report on the evaluation of product quality inspection conditions at production facilities as prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 6, the Quality Control Authority issues a quality, technical safety, and environmental protection certificate for the type of product (referred to as the certificate) according to the corresponding form stipulated in Appendix III attached hereto;

If the conditions for issuing the certificate are not met, the production facility will be notified to take corrective measures within six months. After this period, the production facility must resubmit the registration application from the beginning;

2. The issuance of certificates as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article shall be carried out within fifteen days from the date of receipt of complete and valid dossiers;

Article 8. Inspection During Mass Production and Assembly

1. After the product receives a certificate, the production facility proceeds

to mass production, conducting quality inspections throughout the production and assembly process for each product and ensuring that these products meet the technical standards as certified in the dossier and typical samples;

2. The Production Facility shall be responsible for the origin, place of manufacture, and quality of the products being shipped out.

3. Each mass-produced product must undergo a final quality inspection (referred to as final inspection) by the production facility in one of two forms: supervised final inspection by the Quality Control Authority or self-inspection:

a) Supervised Final Inspection by the Quality Control Authority

The Quality Control Authority shall carry out supervision of the final inspection (referred to as supervision) at production and assembly facilities for passenger vehicles or vehicles assembled from separate parts in the following cases:

- The production facility is producing or assembling vehicles for the first time;

- The production facility has unstable product quality. Product quality is considered unstable if the ratio between the number of products failing requirements and the total number of products under supervision exceeds:

+ Five percent for the entire supervision period or

+ Ten percent for any month during the supervision period;

- The production facility violates regulations related to quality inspections but not to the extent requiring the revocation of the certificate.

The contents of supervision are stipulated in Appendix IV attached hereto. The duration of a supervision period is six months or five hundred products, whichever comes first.

After the above supervision period, if product quality stabilizes and the production facility complies with relevant quality inspection regulations, it will be allowed to implement self-inspection as prescribed in point b of this clause.

If product quality remains unstable after four consecutive supervision periods, the Quality Control Authority will suspend the issuance of final inspection certificates and report to the Ministry of Transport for consideration and handling.

b) Self-Inspection

Production facilities not subject to supervision as prescribed in point a of this clause may conduct their own final inspections in accordance with current regulations.

The Quality Control Authority may conduct unannounced inspections. If the unannounced inspection results show that the production facility violates regulations related to product quality inspections, depending on the severity of the violation, the certificate may be revoked or the facility may be required to implement supervision as prescribed in point a of this clause.

4. Final Inspection Dossier for Motor Vehicles

Based on the issued certificate and the report on the inspection and supervision results of the batch of vehicles, the production facility will receive blank final inspection certificates (according to the form stipulated in Appendix V attached hereto) corresponding to the quantity of the batch of vehicles.

Based on the inspection results of each product, the production facility issues a final inspection certificate (referred to as the final certificate) for motor vehicles. The final certificate must be signed and stamped by an authorized person (plant manager, deputy plant manager, or a direct subordinate authorized in writing by the head of the production facility).

The final certificate issued for the aforementioned motor vehicles is used for motor vehicle registration procedures.

The production facility is responsible for preparing and issuing the following documents for each motor vehicle upon final release:

- The factory release certificate as prescribed at point a of this clause;

- User manuals containing the main technical specifications and instructions for using safety equipment on the vehicle;

- Warranty certificates indicating the conditions and addresses of warranty service centers.

Article 9. Reconfirmation of validity and revocation of certification

Annually, based on the request of the Production Facility, the Quality Control Authority shall conduct reconfirmation of the validity of the certification based on the production report of similar products and the results of re-evaluation of the quality inspection conditions of the Production Facility.

When there are changes to relevant regulations, technical standards, or products that affect the compliance of the product type with current technical standards, the Production Facility shall be responsible for implementing re-certification procedures.

The Quality Control Authority shall complete the reconfirmation of the validity of the certification within fifteen days from the date of receiving all valid documents.

The certification will automatically become invalid and be revoked in the following cases:

a) The Production Facility seriously violates regulations related to product quality inspections and the use of factory release certificates;

b) The Production Facility fails to recall defective products according to current regulations, which may cause harm to users and have adverse effects on the environment.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION

 

Article 10. The Quality Control Authority shall perform the following responsibilities:

1. Based on its functions and assigned tasks, provide specific guidance on the implementation of this Regulation;

2. Uniformly issue, manage, and guide the use of certifications and blank factory release certificates;

3. Organize evaluations and publish lists of approved testing facilities for component and motor vehicle testing for quality control, technical safety, and environmental protection purposes;

4. Conduct regular or spot inspections of the quality inspection activities of Production Facilities;

5. Implement testing and examination of imported components listed in Appendix I attached to this Regulation when there are doubts about their quality;

6. Summarize the results of quality control, technical safety, and environmental protection work for motor vehicles and report to the Ministry of Transport in January and July each year.

Article 11. Inspection records must be stored by the Quality Control Authority and the Production Facility for at least three years from the date the Production Facility ceases production of the certified product type.

Article 12. The Quality Control Authority and Testing Facilities may collect fees in accordance with current regulations.

Article 13. Certifications and factory release certificates still in effect issued before the effective date of this regulation remain valid until their expiration date./.