Circular No. 54/2014/TT-BGTVT amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 30/2011/TT-BGTVT dated April 15, 2011, issued by the Minister of Transport on technical safety quality inspection and environmental protection in the production and assembly of motor vehicles

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 30/2011/TT-BGTVT

dated April 15, 2011, issued by the Minister of Transport

regarding the inspection of technical safety quality and environmental protection

in the production and assembly of motor vehicles

_________________

On the basis of Decree No. 86/2012/NĐ-CP dated October 19, 2012, issued by the Government detailing and guiding implementation of certain provisions of the Metrology Law;

Pursuant to the Law on Product Quality and Commodities dated November 21, 2007;

Pursuant to Decree No. 132/2008/NĐ-CP dated December 31, 2008 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Product Quality;

Pursuant to Decree No. 187/2013/NĐ-CP dated November 20, 2013 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on Commerce concerning international trade activities and foreign-related agency purchase, sale, processing, and transit goods;

Pursuant to Decree No. 107/2012/NĐ-CP dated December 20, 2012 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Transport;

The Minister of Transport issues this Circular amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 29/2018/TT-BGTVT dated May 14, 2018, issued by the Minister of Transport on quality inspection, technical safety, and environmental protection for railway transportation vehicles, and Circular No. 18/2019/TT-BGTVT dated May 20, 2019, issued by the Minister of Transport guiding the implementation of Decree No. 139/2018/NĐ-CP dated October 8, 2018, of the Government on business operations of vehicle inspection services.

The Minister of Transport hereby promulgates this Circular amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 30/2011/TT-BGTVT dated April 15, 2011, issued by the Minister of Transport, regarding the inspection of technical safety quality and environmental protection in the production and assembly of motor vehicles (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 30/2011/TT-BGTVT).

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 30/2011/TT-BGTVT

1. Amending Clause 8, Clause 11, and Clause 13 of Article 3

a) Amending Clause 8 of Article 3 as follows:

“8. type approval for products is the process of testing, examining, evaluating, and certifying the conformity of a type of product with national technical standards, regulations, and current regulations of the Ministry of Transport on technical safety quality and environmental protection;"

b) Amending Clause 11 of Article 3 as follows:

“11. Design entity is an organization that has registered for the business of motor vehicle design services or a production facility that designs motor vehicles for its own production and assembly;"

c) Amending Clause 13 of Article 3 as follows:

“13. Testing facility is an organization operating in the field of component or motor vehicle testing to conduct tests according to national technical standards and related regulatory documents;"

2. Amending Point a and Point b of Clause 2 of Article 4 as follows:

"a) Technical drawings of the vehicle (confirmed by the overseas production facility): The technical drawings must clearly show the overall layout of the product; basic dimensions of the vehicle; layout and installation dimensions of seats and beds; position and installation dimensions of lights and rearview mirrors; width of the entire cab and cargo box dimensions (for cargo vehicles);

b) A copy (confirmed by the overseas production facility) of the Certificate of Type Approval issued by the competent authority abroad;"

3. Amending Clause 1 of Article 6 as follows:

"1. The production facility is responsible for transferring typical samples to the testing facility. The items and objects subject to inspection and testing are specified in Appendix IV attached to this Circular."

3. In cases where the Cam Ranh International Port performs tasks according to the State’s and other ministries' programs and plans, the financial assurance for operations shall be implemented in accordance with relevant laws."

"Article 7. Inspection Documentation

1. Inspection documentation for components (subject to inspection as specified in Appendix IV attached to this Circular) includes:

a) Original test report of the component;

b) Technical drawings with product specifications; Registration form of technical specifications according to corresponding national technical standards and regulations;

c) Photographs of the product; Description of symbols and serial numbers on the product (if any);

d) Description of production technology processes and quality control processes (except for applications for certificates of imported component types based on customs declaration forms).

Exemption from submitting documents specified in Points a, b, and d applies to imported components from abroad accompanied by a Certificate of Type Approval issued by a competent authority abroad, attached to the test report showing that the imported component complies with the relevant United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) regulation version or higher than the national technical regulation, and documents demonstrating the results of production quality condition assessment (Production Conformity Assessment, abbreviated as COP) still valid according to UNECE, EC regulations conducted by a competent authority abroad or an independent organization recognized by a competent authority abroad.

2. Inspection documentation for motor vehicles includes:

a) Original test report on technical safety quality and environmental protection according to current national technical standards and regulations for motor vehicles;

b) Design documentation reviewed by the Competent Authority or alternative documents as stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 4 of this Circular;

c) Photographs of the design; Registration form of technical specifications according to the model prescribed in Appendix V attached to this Circular;

d) Statistics of domestic and imported assemblies and systems used in the production and assembly of products according to the model prescribed in Appendix VI attached to this Circular;

đ) Description of production and assembly technology procedures and quality control procedures;

e) Explanation of the method and location of chassis number and engine number stamping;

g) User manual and warranty documentation.

3. Inspection documentation for products must be stored at the Competent Authority and the production facility for at least two years from the date the production facility notifies the Competent Authority of ceasing production and assembly of the certified product type."

5. Amend Article 8 as follows:

"Article 8. Assessment of Production Quality Condition

1. To ensure the maintenance of quality in mass-produced products, the production facility must meet the following requirements:

a) Have procedures and guidelines for quality control inspections for each product type from incoming component inspection, quality control at each production stage, to warranty and maintenance stages;

b) Have necessary testing equipment for each production stage. The minimum list of testing equipment required for final vehicle quality control is specified in Appendix VII attached to this Circular; these testing devices must be inspected and confirmed annually by the Competent Authority;

c) Have technicians responsible for final vehicle quality control trained by the foreign manufacturer (technology transferor) or the Competent Authority in accordance with the type of product being produced and assembled.

2. The Competent Authority will conduct the assessment of production quality conditions (Production Conformity Assessment, abbreviated as COP) at the production facility through the following methods:"

a) Initial assessment shall be conducted before issuing the Certificate of Conformity based on the ISO/TS 16949 standard "Specific Requirements for Quality Management Systems of Manufacturing and Assembly Enterprises of Motor Vehicles and Vehicle Components", including reviewing and assessing the following contents: production technology processes, assembly processes, and product quality inspection processes; storage and control regulations for quality records; human resources serving production, assembly, and product quality inspection; equipment for outgoing product quality inspection; activities of the quality control system during the production and assembly process, outgoing product quality inspection, and market release.

b) Annual Assessment shall be carried out annually to check the maintenance of quality inspection conditions at the Production Facility. The storage of product inspection records and the conformity of outgoing products with registered quality standards in the product inspection records at the Production Facility will be conducted through random sampling inspections. The scope of inspection and assessment will be expanded when there are inconsistencies in the production, assembly, and quality inspection processes.

c) Unannounced Assessment shall be conducted in cases where the Production Facility shows signs of violating relevant quality inspection regulations or has complaints about product quality, or in cases exempted from COP assessment as stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 249/2025/NĐ-CP.

3. Exemption from conducting COP assessment in the following cases:

a) Product types produced and assembled according to technological and inspection procedures that are similar or have not undergone fundamental changes compared to those of previously assessed product types;

b) Imported components manufactured at foreign component production facilities with documentation showing the results of COP assessment (still valid) according to ECE, EC regulations conducted by authorized foreign agencies or independent organizations recognized by foreign authorities."

6. Amend Clause 1 of Article 9 as follows:

“1. The Quality Control Authority bases on the product inspection dossier as prescribed in Article 7 of this Circular and the report on the assessment of quality inspection conditions at the Production Facility as prescribed in Article 8 of this Circular to issue the Certificate of Technical Safety and Environmental Protection Quality (hereinafter referred to as the Certificate) for product types according to the corresponding model specified in Appendix VIII issued together with this Circular. The Certificate issued for imported component types is only valid for components of the same type listed in the customs declaration of goods if the COP assessment is not conducted as prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 8 or if it is exempted from COP assessment as prescribed in Clause 3 of Article 8 of this Circular.”

7. Amend Article 10 as follows:

“Article 10. Inspection During Mass Production and Assembly

1. After the product receives the certificate, the Production Facility proceeds with mass production, conducting quality inspections throughout the production and assembly process for each product and must ensure that these products meet the technical standards and norms as stated in the product inspection dossier and typical samples that have been certified.

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

3. Each product produced in mass production must undergo outgoing quality inspection (hereinafter referred to as outgoing inspection) by the Production Facility according to one of two forms of outgoing inspection: supervised outgoing inspection by the Quality Control Authority or self-outgoing inspection:

a) Supervised Outgoing Inspection

The Quality Control Authority supervises the outgoing inspection (hereinafter referred to as supervision) at motor vehicle manufacturing and assembly facilities in the following cases: the first-time production and assembly facility; production facilities with unstable product quality (product quality is considered unstable if the ratio between non-conforming products requiring re-inspection and the total number of inspected products exceeds 5% for the entire inspection period or exceeds 10% for any month within the inspection period); production facilities releasing products inconsistent with the product inspection dossier and typical samples of the product type already certified; production facilities lacking qualified inspectors responsible for motor vehicle outgoing quality inspection as stipulated in Point c, Clause 1 of Article 8 of this Circular or having inspectors but they are not proficient in motor vehicle outgoing quality inspection tasks; production facilities violating regulations related to the use of outgoing quality inspection certificates; production facilities arbitrarily erasing, altering, or sealing vehicle chassis (VIN) and engine numbers. The content of quality inspection supervision is specified in Appendix IX issued together with this Circular. The duration of one supervision period is six months (with products being released) or 500 products, whichever comes first. After the supervision period, if product quality is stable and the Production Facility complies with relevant quality inspection regulations, it may apply for self-outgoing inspection as stipulated in Point b of this clause.

b) Self-Outgoing Inspection

Production Facilities not required to undergo supervision as stipulated in Point a of this clause can conduct outgoing inspections according to 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 inspection, depending on the severity of the violation, the Certificate's validity may be suspended or revoked, or the facility may be required to undergo supervision as stipulated in Point a of this clause.

4. Outgoing Documentation for Motor Vehicles

a) For motor vehicles that have been issued a Certificate and have a report on the inspection and supervision results of the batch of vehicles, the Production Facility shall be granted a blank quality control certificate for factory release (in accordance with the model prescribed in Appendix X attached to this Circular) corresponding to the quantity of the batch of vehicles. Based on the inspection results of each product, the Production Facility shall issue a quality control certificate for factory release (hereinafter referred to as the Factory Release Certificate) for motor vehicles. The Factory Release Certificate must be signed and stamped by an authorized person (the head, deputy head, or directly subordinate person authorized in writing by the head of the Production Facility). The Factory Release Certificate issued for the aforementioned motor vehicles shall be used for vehicle registration procedures.

b) The Production Facility shall be responsible for establishing and issuing to each motor vehicle at factory release the following documents: the original Factory Release Certificate (as stipulated in point a, clause of this paragraph) for registration procedures; a copy of the Factory Release Certificate for initial inspection procedures at Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers; user manuals containing key technical specifications and instructions for using safety equipment of the vehicle; warranty number or product warranty certificate indicating the warranty conditions and addresses of Warranty Facilities.

c) The Production Facility shall be responsible for reporting and transmitting data related to the inspection of factory-released vehicles to the Quality Control Authority.

8. Amending and supplementing Article 11 as follows:

Article 11. Evaluation of product types that have been issued Certificates; suspension and revocation of Certificates

1. The Quality Control Authority shall conduct evaluations of product types that have been issued Certificates in the following cases:

a) Annual evaluation of product types;

b) Evaluation when there is a change in the product compared to the type of product that has been issued a Certificate;

c) Evaluation when there is a change in relevant national regulations, standards, and technical norms.

2. The basis for evaluating product types that have been issued Certificates includes:

a) The results of the COP assessment at the Production Facility as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 8 of this Circular;

b) The conformity of the product that has been issued a Certificate with the relevant national regulations, standards, and technical norms or the conformity of the product when there is a change compared to the type of product that has been issued a Certificate or the conformity of the product when there is a change in relevant national regulations, standards, and technical norms.

3. When relevant national regulations, standards, and technical norms concerning certified product types change or when the product undergoes changes affecting its conformity with the relevant national regulations, standards, and technical norms, the Production Facility must conduct additional testing and trials at Testing Facilities. In this case, the Production Facility must submit the following additional documents to the Quality Control Authority:

a) Documents related to the changes in the product;

b) Report on the test results of the product according to new national regulations, standards, and technical norms or supplementary test reports on changed items of the product according to national regulations, standards, and technical norms.

The Quality Control Authority will accept and review these additional documents to consider, evaluate, and issue Certificates.

4. Suspension of the effect of the Certificate

The Quality Control Authority will suspend the effect of the Certificate for the type of product that has been issued for a period of three months and notify the Production Facility in writing in the following cases:

a) The production facility violates regulations related to product quality inspection or uses quality inspection certificates for products leaving the factory;

b) Products released from the factory do not comply with the product inspection files and typical samples of the type of product that has been issued a Certificate, and the Production Facility does not take corrective actions for non-compliant products already released from the factory;

c) The Production Facility does not comply with the provisions of points a, b, and c, Clause 1, Article 13 of this Circular regarding the recall or failure to take corrective measures for technical defects of the type of product being produced or assembled at the Production Facility;

d) The Production Facility arbitrarily erases, alters, or seals the chassis number (VIN), engine number of motor vehicles produced or assembled.

During the period when the Certificate is suspended, the Production Facility must rectify the violations. After the Production Facility notifies the Quality Control Authority about the rectification of the violations, the Quality Control Authority will examine and inspect; if the violations have been corrected, the Quality Control Authority will revoke the suspension of the Certificate's effect and notify the Production Facility in writing; if the suspension period expires and the Production Facility still fails to correct the violations, the Quality Control Authority will continue to suspend the Certificate's effect for another three months. If the Production Facility still fails to correct the violations after two consecutive suspension periods, the Certificate issued for the type of product will be revoked in accordance with point d, Clause 5 of this Article.

5. Revocation of the Certificate

The Quality Control Authority will notify in writing about the revocation and termination of the effect of the Certificate that has been issued in the following cases:

a) When the product no longer meets current national regulations, standards, and technical norms or the product has undergone changes and is inconsistent with the product inspection file and the Certificate issued, and the Production Facility does not conduct additional testing and trials as required;

b) The COP assessment results show that the production facility seriously violates regulations related to product quality inspection or uses quality inspection certificates for products leaving the factory;

c) The Production Facility does not implement the recall of defective products as stipulated in Chapter III of this Circular;

d) The Certificate for the type of product has been suspended twice consecutively in accordance with Clause 4 of this Article, and the Production Facility still fails to correct the violation of the type of product.

9. Amend point d, Clause 2, Article 13 as follows:

"d) Suspend the effect of the Certificate in the case where the Production Facility violates the provisions of point c, Clause 4, Article 11 of this Circular. Within three months from the last day the recall must be implemented, if the Production Facility does not carry out the recall of the product according to the announced plan and does not report on the implementation of the recall of the product, the Certificate will be revoked.

10. Add Chapter III-a as follows:

"PART III-a

HANDLING OF MOTOR VEHICLES WITH ERASED, ALTERED, OR SEALED FRAME NUMBERS, VIN, AND ENGINE NUMBERS

Article 15a. Handling in cases where automobiles produced or assembled from imported parts (chassis, body, or engine) have their chassis numbers, vehicle identification numbers (VIN), or engine numbers erased, altered, or re-engraved abroad

During the process of technical safety inspection and environmental protection certification (hereinafter referred to as inspection and certification), if it is found that automobiles produced or assembled from imported parts have their chassis numbers, VIN, or engine numbers erased, altered, or re-engraved abroad, the Inspection Authority shall proceed as follows:

1. Suspend the inspection and certification procedures for automobiles produced or assembled.

2. Prepare a Record noting the violation of the automobile's chassis number, VIN, or engine number according to the model specified in Appendix XI issued together with this Circular for automobiles produced or assembled from imported parts with their chassis numbers, VIN, or engine numbers erased, altered, or re-engraved abroad.

3. Within no more than three working days from the date of the violation conclusion, the Inspection Authority shall notify in writing to the Production Facility and the Customs Authority at the import procedure location to handle according to regulations.

Article 15b. Handling in cases where motor vehicles produced or assembled from parts with chassis numbers (VIN) or engine numbers engraved domestically have been incorrectly engraved, erased, altered, or re-engraved

During the process of inspection and certification, if it is found that motor vehicles produced or assembled from parts with chassis numbers (VIN) or engine numbers engraved domestically have been incorrectly engraved, erased, altered, or re-engraved, the Inspection Authority shall proceed as follows:

1. Suspend the inspection and certification procedures for motor vehicles produced or assembled.

2. Prepare a Record noting the condition of the chassis number or engine number.

3. Within no more than three working days from the date of the violation conclusion, the Inspection Authority shall notify in writing to the Production Facility to request the Production Facility to correct the violation or recall the product, while applying quality supervision inspection measures as stipulated in point a, Clause 3, Article 10 of this Circular for the Production Facility with the violating product and suspend the validity of the Certificate already issued for that type of product as stipulated in Clause 4, Article 11 of this Circular.

Article 15c. Handling in other cases

1. During the implementation of inspection and certification, if there is suspicion about the condition of the chassis number, VIN, or engine number of motor vehicles being erased, altered, or re-engraved, the Inspection Authority must temporarily suspend the inspection and certification procedures for those motor vehicles and conduct a professional examination at an authorized examination agency. If the examination agency concludes that the chassis number, VIN, or engine number has been erased, altered, or re-engraved, then handling shall be carried out according to the provisions of Article 15a or Article 15b of this Circular.

2. In cases where motor vehicles produced or assembled have chassis numbers (VIN) or engine numbers engraved domestically but are incorrect due to operator actions or are unclear and difficult to read, the Production Facility must maintain the original state of the incorrectly engraved number and notify in writing to the Inspection Authority. The Inspection Authority will check and if there are no signs of violation, it will notify in writing to the Production Facility and implement supervision on re-engraving the chassis number (VIN) or engine number.

11. Supplement Clause 4 of Article 18 as follows:

"4. Production facilities may not use parts (chassis, body, or engine) or motor vehicles with chassis numbers, VIN, or engine numbers erased, altered, or re-engraved to produce or assemble motor vehicles."

12. Amend and supplement some Appendices of Circular No. 30/2011/TT-BGTVT as follows:

a) Amend Appendices IV, V, VII, and VIII issued together with Circular No. 30/2011/TT-BGTVT corresponding to Appendices I, II, III, and IV issued together with this Circular.

b) Supplement Appendix XI to Circular No. 30/2011/TT-BGTVT corresponding to Appendix V issued together with this Circular.

Article 2. Transitional Provisions

For types of motor vehicles that have been granted Certificates before the effective date of this Circular, imported parts used to assemble these types of vehicles shall be subject to inspection and testing according to the provisions of Appendix IV issued together with Circular No. 30/2011/TT-BGTVT and shall implement the inspection and issuance of Certificates for part types according to the following schedule:

1. For front lighting lamps: apply from July 1, 2015.

2. For rearview mirrors, front windshields, side windows, rear windows, sunroof windows, and tires: apply from May 17, 2016.

3. Other parts: apply according to the schedule prescribed in the corresponding National Technical Regulations.

Article 3. Effectiveness and Implementation

1. This Circular takes effect from December 15, 2014.

2. The Director of the Ministry's Office, the Chief Inspector of the Ministry, the Heads of Departments, the Director of the Vietnam Registration Agency, the Heads of agencies, organizations, and individuals related to this matter are responsible for enforcing this Circular./.