MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
Independence – Freedom – Happiness

CIRCULAR
AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING CERTAIN CONTENTS OF CIRCULAR NO. 30/2011/TT-BTTTT ON CONFORMITY CERTIFICATION AND DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY FOR INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS AND GOODS

This English text is an operational reference translation prepared from the Vietnamese legal text. It is not an official legal translation.

Pursuant to the Law on Telecommunications dated 23 November 2009; the Law on Radio Frequencies dated 23 November 2009; the Law on Standards and Technical Regulations dated 29 June 2006; the Law on Product and Goods Quality dated 21 November 2007; and relevant decrees on standards, technical regulations, product quality and the functions of the Ministry of Information and Communications, at the proposal of the Director General of the Authority of Telecommunications, the Minister of Information and Communications promulgates this Circular.

Article 1. Amendments and supplements to Circular No. 30/2011/TT-BTTTT

1. Clause 4 is amended and Clause 9 is added to Article 2. A “conformity certification body” means an organization designated by the Ministry of Information and Communications to certify products and goods on the list of potentially unsafe products and goods under the Ministry’s management. A “product lot” means a quantity of one type of goods with the same name, use, brand, type, technical characteristics, manufacturer, origin and import dossier.

2. Article 11 is replaced. Conformity certification shall be carried out under one of three methods under Article 5 of Circular 28/2012/TT-BKHCN: Method 1 – type sample testing; Method 5 – type sample testing and production process assessment with surveillance through testing samples taken at production premises or on the market combined with production process assessment; Method 7 – testing and assessment of a product/goods lot. Method 1 applies to products manufactured on a production line with ISO 9001 or equivalent; Method 5 applies where the production line does not have ISO 9001 or equivalent but has a production and quality monitoring process; Method 7 applies where Method 1 or Method 5 cannot be applied. The certification method must be stated on the conformity certificate and serves as the basis for determining the scope of certification and post-certification quality surveillance.

3. Article 16 is replaced on declaration procedures. For domestically manufactured products, organizations or individuals shall prepare one dossier and submit it to the receiving location. If the dossier is incomplete, within 02 working days the Authority of Telecommunications shall request supplementation in writing; if it is not fully supplemented within 15 working days, processing will be cancelled. For complete dossiers, within 05 working days the Authority shall check validity and issue either a notice of acceptance or a written refusal stating reasons. The notice of acceptance is valid for 03 years or according to the validity of the conformity certificate but not exceeding 03 years, depending on the declaration basis.

For imported products and goods, the organization or individual shall prepare/register the quality inspection dossier under Decree 132/2008/ND-CP as amended by Decree 74/2018/ND-CP and Decree 154/2018/ND-CP, and submit one dossier to the receiving location or through the National Single Window. Within 15 working days from customs clearance, the conformity declaration dossier must be completed and submitted to the Authority of Telecommunications. Exempted products require a written statement of purpose at the time of import quality inspection registration and are not required to perform the post-clearance dossier completion step.

4. Article 17 is replaced on dossiers and receiving locations. For domestically manufactured products, the dossier includes the declaration form, legal identity documents where required, conformity mark sample, conformity certificate or self-assessment report depending on product category, and technical documents in Vietnamese or English showing product name, designation, technical information, external photo and manufacturer. For imported products, the dossier includes the conformity mark sample; the conformity certificate issued to the importer or manufacturer plus manufacturer/representative authorization for use; self-assessment report or manufacturer’s self-assessment report plus authorization; and technical documents in Vietnamese or English. Dossiers may be submitted online through public service portals or directly/by post to the Authority of Telecommunications at No. 68 Duong Dinh Nghe, Yen Hoa ward, Cau Giay district, Hanoi.

5. Clause 3 Article 18 is replaced: the conformity mark may be used only after its sample has been registered with the Authority of Telecommunications. If the mark is non-conforming, within 03 working days the Authority shall request correction in writing.

6. Clause 1 Article 24 is amended: conformity declaration must be repeated when the technical design changes and changes technical criteria; when the registered declaration dossier changes; or when the conformity certificate expires.

7. The “Conformity Certificate Form” in Appendix I is replaced by Form No. 01 enclosed with this Circular.

8. The “Report on conformity certification activities” in Appendix VI is replaced by Form No. 02 enclosed with this Circular.

9. Article 3, Article 9, Article 13, Article 14, Article 22, Article 26, points c and e of Clause 1 Article 27, and the “Application for conformity certification” form in Appendix II are annulled.

Article 2. Organization of implementation

The Director General of the Authority of Telecommunications, heads of units under the Ministry of Information and Communications, directors of local state management agencies for information and communications, and relevant organizations and individuals are responsible for implementing this Circular.

Article 3. Effect

1. This Circular takes effect from 01 July 2020.

2. Clauses 5, 7, 9, 10 and 12 of Article 1 of Circular No. 15/2018/TT-BTTTT are annulled.

3. Conformity certificates and notices of acceptance of conformity declarations issued before the effective date of this Circular and still valid may continue to be used until their expiry.

Article 4. Responsibility for implementation

Any difficulties arising during implementation shall be reported to the Ministry of Information and Communications (Authority of Telecommunications) for consideration and handling.

MINISTER
Nguyen Manh Hung

APPENDIX

Enclosed with Circular No. 10/2020/TT-BTTTT dated 07 May 2020.

Form No. 01 – Type Approval Certificate: includes Ministry/Republic headings, certificate number, certification body, product, model, manufacturer/place of manufacturing, certificate holder, applicable technical regulation/standard, test report basis, certification system, certificate validity for lot or term, validity update website, place/date of issue and signatory block. Notes clarify that lot information applies to Method 7, while validity period information applies to Methods 1 and 5.

Form No. 02 – Report on conformity certification activities: includes certification body information, reporting period, issued/re-issued/amended certificates, suspended/annulled certificates, issued conformity mark management codes, proposals and authorized signature.