Circular No. 46/2014/TT-BCT on activities related to the development and application of national standards and national technical regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade

CIRCULAR

Article 24regulating activities related to the development and application of national standards

and national technical regulations of B||| Ccommerce

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Pursuant to Decree No. 95/2012/NĐ-CP dated November 12, 2012, of the Government, detailing the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

Pursuant to the Law on Standards and Technical Regulations dated June 29, 2006;

Based on Decree No. 132/2008/NĐ-CP dated December 31, 2008 of the Government detailing implementation of certain provisions

Decree No. 24/2009/ND-CP dated March 5, 2009 of the Government detailing and providing implementation measures for the Law on Enacting Legal Normative Documents;

Pursuant to the proposal of the Director of the Science and Technology Department,

The Minister of Industry and Trade issues this Circular regulating activities related to the development and application of national standards and national technical regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Chapter I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

1. This Circular regulates the organization of drafting national standard proposals; planning, developing, reviewing, promulgating, reviewing, amending, supplementing, replacing, abolishing, and applying national technical regulations within the fields under the management responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

2. This Circular applies to organizations and individuals involved in the activities specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 2. Fields of National Standards

The fields of national standards organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade include:

1. National standards on machinery;

2. National standards on metallurgy;

3. National standards on power industry, new energy, renewable energy;

4. National standards on oil and gas;

5. National standards on chemicals, industrial explosives, inorganic fertilizers;

6. National standards on mining industry and mineral processing except construction materials;

7. National standards on consumer goods industry;

8. National standards on food industry and other processing industries;

9. National standards on industrial services, trade, e-commerce;

10. Other fields of national standards according to the management requirements of the Ministry of Industry and Trade at different periods.

Article 3. Fields of National Technical Regulations

The fields of national technical regulations under the management scope of the Ministry of Industry and Trade include:

1. Industrial safety technology (safety of pressure equipment, lifting equipment, safety for machines and equipment with special safety requirements in specific industrial sectors);

2. Electrical safety in the management and operation of electrical equipment, production, distribution, transmission of electricity;

3. Safety in mining and mineral processing (except construction materials), mining, oil and gas (excluding exploration and exploitation equipment and means for offshore oil and gas);

4. Chemical safety (including pharmaceuticals), industrial explosives, inorganic fertilizers;

5. Safety in mechanical, metallurgical, and energy production;

6. Industrial environmental safety;

7. Consumer goods industry safety;

8. Food industry safety and other processing industries;

9. Services in the industrial sector;

10. Services related to commercial activities;

11. E-commerce;

12. Other fields according to the management requirements of the Ministry of Industry and Trade at different periods.

Article 4. Budget for Activities in the Field of National Standards and National Technical Regulations

1. The budget is allocated from the annual state budget for science and technology activities and other activities of the Ministry of Industry and Trade; support from domestic and foreign individuals and organizations and other legitimate sources of income.

2. The budget includes: organizing the development and review of national standard draft proposals; planning, reviewing, converting, developing, reviewing, approving, registering, promoting the application, inspecting, and evaluating national technical regulations.

3. The preparation, utilization, and settlement of the budget for national standard and national technical regulation activities from the state budget shall be carried out in accordance with current financial laws.

4. Support funds from organizations and individuals and other legitimate sources of income shall be managed and utilized in accordance with current laws and other relevant provisions.

Chapter II NATIONAL STANDARDS

Article 5. Overall planning and five-year plan for building national standards

At the request of the Ministry of Science and Technology regarding the establishment of overall planning and five-year plans for building national standards, based on strategies and development plans for industries and sectors under the management responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Department of Science and Technology shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant units to propose the content for building national standards in the industry and trade sector to be included in the overall planning and five-year plans for building national standards, to submit to the leadership of the Ministry for submission to the Ministry of Science and Technology for consolidation and issuance.

Article 6. Annual plan for building national standards

1. The annual plan for building national standards of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (hereinafter referred to as the TCVN plan) shall be implemented as follows:

a) Annually in the first quarter, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall notify organizations and individuals to propose projects for building national standards in the industry and trade sector for the following year. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall organize an advisory council to review and designate the implementing unit. The content of the project for building national standards is specified in Appendix I issued together with this Circular;

b) Based on the advisory council's recommendations, the overall planning and five-year plan for building national standards, the Department of Science and Technology shall compile a draft TCVN plan for the following year to be submitted to the Minister of Industry and Trade for approval. The proposed TCVN plan must be sent to the Ministry of Science and Technology for review and consolidation before August 1st each year;

c) Based on the approval of the plan for building national standards by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Department of Science and Technology shall review, finalize, and submit the TCVN plan to the Minister of Industry and Trade for approval;

d) The TCVN plan includes the following contents: name of the national standard; name of the drafting organization; implementation time; method of drafting (acceptance of international standards; new construction; revision and supplementation); estimated budget and source of funds. The TCVN plan is established according to the provisions in Appendix II issued together with this Circular.

2. Implementation of the TCVN plan

a) Based on the approved TCVN plan, the Ministry of Industry and Trade assigns the main units to implement;

b) The process of implementing the project for building national standards is carried out in accordance with current regulations on the process of implementing scientific and technological tasks of the Ministry of Industry and Trade; National Standard TCVN 1-1: 2008 Construction of Standards - Part 1: Process for Building National Standards, implemented by the Technical Standard Committee.

3. Adjustment and supplementation of the TCVN plan

a) The TCVN plan may be adjusted and supplemented by the decision of the Minister of Industry and Trade. Based on the approved annual budget for the activity of building national standards of the Ministry of Industry and Trade; proposals from related parties, the Department of Science and Technology shall review, finalize, and submit the adjustment and supplementation plan of the TCVN plan to the Minister of Industry and Trade for approval;

b) Adjustments and supplements to the TCVN plan must be completed before August 1st of the planning year and submitted to the Ministry of Science and Technology for consolidation and approval.

Article 7. Organization of drafting the national standard draft

1. Establishment of the Drafting Team. Units assigned the main task of drafting national standards (Drafting Organizations) shall meet the requirements stipulated in Appendix V issued together with Circular No. 29/2011/TT-BKHCN dated November 15, 2011 of the Minister of Science and Technology amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 21/2007/TT-BKHCN dated September 28, 2007 to establish a Drafting Team to build the national standard draft.

2. Drafting the national standard draft

a) Preparing to draft the basic standard

- Collecting, summarizing, and evaluating the implementation status of current regulatory legal documents related to the project for building national standards;

- Surveying and evaluating the current situation related to the objects managed and the main content of the project for building national standards (if applicable);

- Organizing the collection of information, documents, methodologies, and research results related to the project for building national standards; - Approving detailed implementation outlines;

- Other related tasks.

b) Implementing the drafting of the national standard draft and organizing the acceptance of the project for building the national standard draft

- Drafting the draft and its explanatory notes;

- Organizing conferences, seminars, and soliciting opinions from experts and related parties on the national standard draft;

- Studying, adopting opinions, and revising the draft;

- Accepting the results of the project for building the national standard draft; submitting the draft national standard file and related documents to the Department of Science and Technology.

Article 8. Soliciting Opinions and Perfecting Draft National Standards

1. Draft national standards must solicit opinions from relevant organizations and individuals, and simultaneously be announced on the electronic news page of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the General Department for Standardization, Metrology, and Quality Control for at least 60 (sixty) days. The content of soliciting opinions is specified in Appendix III issued together with this Circular. In cases of necessity, the Science and Technology Department shall coordinate with the drafting unit to organize specialized conferences with the participation of relevant parties to discuss and provide feedback on the draft; in special cases related to health, safety, and the environment, the time for soliciting opinions for national standard drafts may be shortened according to the decision of the Minister of Industry and Trade.

2. Based on the feedback opinions, the leading unit in building national standards and the drafting team shall incorporate, perfect, and prepare the draft national standard dossier in accordance with Article 12 of this Circular.

Article 9. Reviewing the National Standard Dossier

1. Within no more than 7 (seven) working days from receiving the draft national standard dossier, the Science and Technology Department shall submit to the Minister of Industry and Trade for a decision to establish the Technical Review Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) to review the draft national standard. Within 15 (fifteen) working days from the date of the establishment decision, the Committee must organize a meeting to review the draft national standard.

2. Based on the Committee's results, the leading unit shall revise and perfect the draft national standard.

Article 10. The Technical Review Committee

1. Composition of the Council

a) The Committee consists of 07 (seven) to 09 (nine) members including:

- Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, of which at least 01 person is a Leader of the Science and Technology Department;

- Other members are reputable experts both inside and outside the Ministry who have appropriate professional qualifications and experience in the specialized field; representatives of agencies and units related to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and representatives of the General Department for Standardization, Metrology, and Quality Control.

b) Members of the drafting team shall not be members of the Committee.

2. Responsibilities of the Council

a) Review and evaluate completeness and procedural correctness;

b) Review technical expertise;

c) Bear individual responsibility for their evaluation results and the Committee's final conclusion; Evaluation forms are stipulated in Appendix IV issued together with this Circular.

3. Principles of operation of the Council

a) Following democratic, objective, and independent principles, members openly discuss assigned tasks while bearing responsibility for their opinions;

b) At least 2/3 (two-thirds) of the Committee members must attend meetings, voting by majority. Written opinions of absent members only have reference value. The Committee's conclusions are recorded in the meeting minutes according to Appendix V issued together with this Circular;

c) The Chairperson presides over meetings; in the absence of the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson presides over the meeting.

Article 11. Approval and Publication of National Standards

1. The Science and Technology Department, the lead agency of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, compiles the national standard dossier and submits it to the Ministry of Science and Technology (General Department for Standardization, Metrology, and Quality Control) for approval and publication.

2. If the draft national standard dossier does not meet the requirements as prescribed, the leading unit shall supplement and perfect the dossier and resubmit it to the Ministry of Science and Technology within 15 (fifteen) days from the receipt of the request to perfect the dossier.

3. After receiving the approval results from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Science and Technology Department shall be responsible for:

a) In case of agreement with the approval results of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Science and Technology Department shall coordinate with the leading unit to incorporate, revise, and perfect the dossier and submit it to the Ministry of Science and Technology for publication;

b) In case of disagreement with the approval results of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Science and Technology Department shall coordinate with the leading unit to issue a letter explaining the non-agreed opinions and submit it to the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Article 12. Documents for Draft National Standards

1. Documents for Review

a) Decision assigning the task of implementing the national standard development project to the drafting agency or organization, accompanied by the approved explanatory notes and draft outline;

b) Report on the process of developing the draft national standard by the agency or organization implementing the national standard development project;

c) Draft national standard (including both the draft text and electronic file), accompanied by copies of original documents used as the basis for drafting the national standard and other reference materials;

d) List of organizations and individuals sent for comments; summary and explanation of feedback comments along with the comment documents;

đ) Other relevant documents;

e) Letter requesting review.

2. Documents for Evaluation and Announcement at the Ministry of Science and Technology

a) Documents specified in points a, b, c, d, đ of Clause 1 of this Article;

b) Minutes of the review of the draft national standard by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and related documents;

c) Document incorporating review comments;

d) Letter requesting evaluation and announcement of the national standard from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 13. Structure and Presentation of National Standard Content

The presentation and expression of national standard content shall be carried out in accordance with TCVN 1-2: 2008 on standardization - regulations on the presentation and expression of national standard content.

Article 14. Application of National Standards

1. Principles and Methods of Applying National Standards

a) National standards are applied on a voluntary basis. All or part of the standard becomes mandatory when cited in legal regulatory documents or national technical regulations;

b) Priority should be given to using national standards appropriately in the formulation of legal regulatory documents, technical regulations, production, business, services, and other economic and social activities;

c) The application of international standards, regional standards, and foreign standards shall be implemented in accordance with current regulations.

2. Measures for Application

a) Promoting, disseminating, guiding, and training on the application of national standards for relevant entities;

b) Strengthening testing, calibration, inspection, certification, declaration, and recognition activities according to current national standards.

Chapter III NATIONAL TECHNICAL REGULATIONS

Section 1 PLAN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND REGULAR REVIEW OF NATIONAL TECHNICAL REGULATIONS BY THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE

Article 15. Five-Year Plan for Developing National Technical Regulations by the Ministry of Industry and Trade

1. The five-year plan for developing national technical regulations by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (hereinafter referred to as the five-year QCVN plan) must comply with state management requirements, including direction, roadmap, and implementation solutions, with anticipated results for each year.

2. The content of the five-year QCVN plan must reflect systematic and synchronized aspects across fields and objects requiring national technical regulations, arranged in priority order suitable for management needs for each year. The content of the five-year QCVN plan is set forth in Appendix VI attached to this Circular.

3. Procedure for Establishing and Approving the Five-Year QCVN Plan

a) Based on industry conditions and development requirements, management demands for products, goods, services, and environmental responsibilities under the purview of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, proposals from specialized management departments, bureaus, and divisions, the Department of Science and Technology will synthesize, evaluate the necessity, and propose a draft five-year QCVN plan;

b) The draft five-year QCVN plan will be sent for comments to relevant organizations and individuals, and simultaneously published on the Ministry of Industry and Trade's website for sixty days;

c) Based on the comments from relevant organizations and individuals, the Department of Science and Technology will synthesize, revise, and perfect the draft five-year QCVN plan for submission to the Minister of Industry and Trade for consideration and approval.

4. The five-year QCVN plan may be adjusted and supplemented based on the decision of the Minister of Industry and Trade.

Article 16. Annual Plan for Developing National Technical Regulations

1. The annual plan for developing national technical regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (hereinafter referred to as the QCVN plan) shall be implemented as follows:

a) In the first quarter of each year, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall notify organizations to propose projects for developing national technical regulations for the next year in the industry and trade sector. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall organize an advisory council to select and designate the implementing unit. The content of the project for developing national technical regulations is specified in Appendix VII issued together with this Circular;

b) Based on the advisory council's consultation results, the implementing unit for the project to develop national technical regulations shall be designated; based on the five-year QCVN plan and the results of periodic reviews of amendments, supplements, replacements, and cancellations of national technical regulations, the Department of Science and Technology shall compile, assess the necessity, and propose a draft QCVN plan;

c) The draft QCVN plan shall be sent to the Legal Affairs Department and the Ministry of Science and Technology, relevant organizations, and individuals for comments;

d) Based on the approved budget for the development of national technical regulations for the planning year and the comments from relevant organizations and individuals, the Department of Science and Technology shall review, perfect, and submit the QCVN plan to the Minister of Industry and Trade for approval.

2. The contents of the QCVN plan include: the name of the national technical regulation to be developed; type of technical regulation, name of the drafting organization; implementation time; estimated cost and funding source. The QCVN plan is established according to Appendix VIII issued together with this Circular.

3. Implementation of the QCVN plan The QCVN development project shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Circular and current regulations on the procedures for implementing scientific and technological tasks of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

4. The QCVN plan may be adjusted or supplemented according to the decision of the Minister of Industry and Trade.

Article 17. Amendment, Supplement, Replacement, and Cancellation of National Technical Regulations

1. Annually, the Department of Science and Technology shall take the lead and coordinate with the Legal Affairs Department and relevant organizations and individuals to review the national technical regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in accordance with Clause 1 of Article 35 of the Law on Standards and Technical Regulations; The review results shall be compiled into lists accompanied by explanatory notes, including: List of national technical regulations that need to be amended, supplemented, or replaced and List of national technical regulations that need to be canceled.

2. In cases of amending, supplementing, or replacing national technical regulations, the Department of Science and Technology shall submit to the Minister of Industry and Trade for consideration and decision to include in the QCVN plan as stipulated in Article 16 of this Circular.

3. In cases where national technical regulations need to be canceled, the Department of Science and Technology shall submit to the Minister of Industry and Trade for consideration and decision after obtaining the assessment opinion of the Ministry of Science and Technology. The cancellation dossier of national technical regulations includes:

a) Explanation of reasons, legal basis, and scientific basis;

b) Summary of opinions of related agencies, organizations, and individuals;

c) Other related contents (if any).

4. In cases of urgent state management requirements, the Minister of Industry and Trade shall decide on the amendment, supplementation, replacement, or cancellation of national technical regulations through a simplified procedure.

Mục 2 PROCEDURE, PROCEDURES FOR BUILDING, REVIEWING, APPROVING AND ISSUING NATIONAL TECHNICAL REGULATIONS

Article 18. Organization for Drafting National Technical Regulations

1. Establishment of the Drafting Team The entity assigned the main responsibility for drafting national technical regulations must establish a Drafting Team to develop the draft national technical regulation.

2. Compilation of the Draft National Technical Regulation

a) Preparing to draft the basic standard

- Collecting, summarizing, and evaluating the implementation status of current regulatory legal documents related to the project of building national technical regulations;

- Surveying and assessing the current situation related to the management objects and main contents of the project of building national technical regulations (if applicable);

- Organizing research on information and materials related to the project of building national technical regulations;

- Approving the detailed outline accompanying the framework of the draft national technical regulation;

- Other related tasks.

b) Implementation of the compilation and acceptance of the project to build national technical regulations

- Compiling the draft and its explanatory notes;

- Organizing meetings, seminars, and soliciting opinions from experts and relevant organizations and individuals;

- Studying, adopting, explaining, and revising the draft;

- Accepting the results of the project to build national technical regulations; submitting the draft national technical regulation dossier and related documents to the Department of Science and Technology.

Article 19. Solicitation of Opinions on the Draft National Technical Regulation

1. The draft national technical regulation must solicit opinions from relevant organizations and individuals and be published on the Ministry of Industry and Trade's electronic news website for at least 60 (sixty) days; sending it to the National Office for Standardization and Quality News and Responses. The content of the opinion solicitation is specified in Appendix III issued together with this Circular. In special cases involving health, safety, and the environment, the time for soliciting opinions on the draft national technical regulation may be shortened according to the decision of the Minister of Industry and Trade.

2. Based on the feedback, the leading unit will adopt, explain, and perfect the draft national technical regulation.

Article 20. Review of National Technical Regulation Dossier

1. Within no more than 7 (seven) working days from receiving the draft national technical regulation dossier, the Department of Science and Technology shall submit to the Minister of Industry and Trade for a decision to establish the specialized technical review board as stipulated in Article 10 of this Circular to review the draft national technical regulation. Within 15 (fifteen) working days from the date of the establishment decision, the Board must organize a review meeting.

2. Based on the Board's results, the leading unit will revise and perfect the draft national technical regulation.

3. If it is necessary to establish inter-sectoral national technical regulations, the Department of Science and Technology will lead and coordinate with relevant units to submit a document to the Minister of Industry and Trade for forwarding to the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Article 21. Review and Issuance of National Technical Regulations

1. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall review the completed draft national technical regulation dossier submitted to it. After receiving the review results from the Ministry of Science and Technology:

a) In case of agreement with the review opinion of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the leading unit shall complete the draft dossier and submit it to the Legal Affairs Department for review before submitting to the Minister of Industry and Trade for issuance in accordance with regulations;

b) In case of disagreement with the review opinion of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the leading unit shall cooperate with the Science and Technology Department to prepare a report to be submitted to the Minister of Industry and Trade.

2. The Science and Technology Department shall manage and assign code numbers for national technical regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The number of the national technical regulation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade is QCVN xx : yyyy/BCT, where:

a) QCVN is the abbreviation for national technical regulation;

b) XX is the regulation number;

c) yyyy is the year of issuance, separated from the regulation number by a colon (:);

d) BCT is the abbreviation for the Ministry of Industry and Trade, placed adjacent to the year of issuance and separated by a forward slash (/).

Article 22. Draft Dossier for National Technical Regulation

1. Documents for Review

a) Decision assigning tasks for implementing the project to establish national technical regulations to the compiling agency, accompanied by the approved explanatory notes and outline;

b) Report on the process of drafting the national technical regulation;

c) Draft national technical regulation (including both the draft text and electronic files), accompanied by copies of original documents used as the basis for drafting the national technical regulation and other reference materials;

d) List of organizations and individuals sent for comments; summary and explanation of feedback comments along with the comment documents;

đ) Other relevant documents;

e) Letter requesting review.

2. Dossier for review at the Ministry of Science and Technology

a) Documents specified in points a, b, c, d, đ of Clause 1 of this Article;

b) Minutes of the preliminary review of the draft national technical regulation by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and related documents;

c) Document incorporating review comments;

d) Letter requesting review.

3. Dossier for review at the Legal Affairs Department

a) Documents specified in points a, b, c, and d of Clause 2 of this Article;

b) Review results of the Ministry of Science and Technology;

c) Document incorporating review comments;

d) Draft Circular, draft memorandum for the Minister of Industry and Trade to issue the national technical regulation.

Article 23. Registration of National Technical Regulations

1. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall register national technical regulations with the Ministry of Science and Technology not later than fifteen days from the date of issuance as stipulated in Article 13 of Decree No. 127/2007/NĐ-CP dated August 1, 2007 of the Government detailing implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Standards and Technical Regulations.

2. The registration dossier for national technical regulations includes:

a) National technical regulation registration form according to Appendix IX issued together with this Circular;

b) Copy of the national technical regulation;

c) Circular issuing the national technical regulation.

Article 24. Notification of Issuance, Dissemination, and Guidance on Application of National Technical Regulations

1. National technical regulations upon issuance must be published on the Ministry of Industry and Trade's website and in the official gazette as prescribed.

2. The Science and Technology Department shall take the lead, in coordination with the Legal Affairs Department and relevant units, to develop plans for disseminating and guiding the application of national technical regulations and incorporate them into the annual national standard and technical regulation activity plan of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 25. Presentation and Expression of Content of National Technical Regulations

The presentation and expression of the content of national technical regulations shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Circular 23/2007/TT-BKHCN dated September 28, 2007, issued by the Minister of Science and Technology guiding the construction, examination, and issuance of technical regulations, and Circular No. 30/2011/TT-BKHCN dated November 15, 2011, issued by the Minister of Science and Technology amending, supplementing, and abolishing certain provisions of Circular No. 23/2007/TT-BKHCN.

Section 3 APPLICATION OF NATIONAL TECHNICAL REGULATIONS

Article 26. Principles for Applying National Technical Regulations

1. National technical regulations must be compulsorily applied in production, business activities, and other economic and social activities.

2. National technical regulations serve as a basis for conformity assessment activities.

Article 27. Conformity Declaration and Public Announcement of Conformity

1. The public announcement of conformity and conformity assessment methods for national technical regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of Circular No. 28/2012/TT-BKHCN dated December 12, 2012, issued by the Minister of Science and Technology on the public announcement of compliance with standards and technical regulations.

2. The subjects of conformity declaration and public announcement of conformity are products, goods, services, processes, and environments specified in national technical regulations issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

3. The bases for conformity declaration and public announcement of conformity are specifically stipulated in each national technical regulation issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Chapter IV IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 28. Responsibilities of the Department of Science and Technology

The Department of Science and Technology has the following responsibilities:

1. To draft and submit to the Minister of Industry and Trade for approval the five-year plan for national technical regulations (QCVN), the annual plan for national standards (TCVN), and the annual plan for national technical regulations (QCVN) of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

2. To organize the review of draft national standards; to review and submit for issuance national technical regulations.

3. To act as the main agency assisting the Minister of Industry and Trade in uniformly managing and guiding conformity declaration and public announcement activities.

4. To take the lead and coordinate with relevant units to organize inspections of national technical regulation activities.

5. To propose budget allocation for national standard and national technical regulation activities of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

6. To propose, take the lead, or coordinate in building national standards and national technical regulations within their assigned fields.

7. To build the ISO process for drafting national standards and national technical regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 29. Responsibilities of Functional Units under the Ministry of Industry and Trade

1. Legal Affairs Department

a) To examine the dossier of draft national technical regulations to be issued or abolished under the management responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

b) To cooperate with the Department of Science and Technology in drafting plans to implement the dissemination and guidance on applying national technical regulations and incorporating them into the annual work plan of the Ministry.

2. Other units under the Ministry

a) To propose, take the lead, or coordinate in building national standards and national technical regulations within their assigned fields;

b) To propose reviews, amendments, supplements, replacements, or abolition of national technical regulations within their assigned fields;

c) To direct and manage conformity declaration and public announcement activities within their assigned fields.

Article 30. Responsibilities of individuals and organizations in charge of developing national technical standards and regulations

1. Individuals and organizations assigned to develop national technical standards and regulations pursuant to the Decision of the Minister of Industry and Trade shall be responsible for organizing and implementing in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

2. They shall be responsible for the content, progress, and use of funds for developing national technical standards and regulations.

Article 31. Effective Date

This Circular takes effect from January 19, 2015.

Article 32. Amendments and supplements to the provisions

During the implementation of this Circular, if there are difficulties or obstacles, organizations and individuals shall promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for amendments and supplements.