CIRCULAR

AMENDMENTS TO AND ABROGATION OF CIRCULARS PRESCRIBING PETROLEUM TRADING, PROVISION OF CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT SERVICES, IMPORT AND EXPORT UNDER THE STATE MANAGEMENT OF MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 98/2017/ND-CP dated August 18, 2017 defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade; 

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP dated September 03, 2014 on petroleum trading;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 132/2008/ND-CP dated December 31, 2008 elaborating certain articles of the Law on quality of goods and products;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 107/2016/ND-CP dated July 01, 2016 on eligibility requirements to be satisfied by conformity assessment service providers;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 34/2016/ND-CP dated May 14, 2016 providing guidelines for implementation of the Law on promulgation of legislative documents;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 63/2010/ND-CP dated June 08, 2010 on control of administrative procedures and the Government’s Decree No. 48/2013/ND-CP dated May 14, 2013 on amendments to Decrees on control of administrative procedures and the Government’s Decree No. 92/2017/ND-CP dated August 07, 2017 on amendments to Decrees on control of administrative procedures;

At the request of Director of the Legal Department;

The Minister of Industry and Trade promulgates a Circular providing amendments to and abrogation of Circulars prescribing petroleum trading, provision of conformity assessment services, import and export under the state management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 1. Amendments to Article 6 of the Circular No. 38/2014/TT-BCT dated October 24, 2014 of the Minister of Industry and Trade elaborating the Government's Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP dated September 03, 2014 on petroleum trading

“Article 6. Issuance of licenses and certificates

1. The trader that wishes to apply for issuance, modification or re-issuance of the license to import/export petroleum, the certificate of eligibility for petroleum distribution, the certificate of eligibility to act as petroleum general agent or petroleum retailing agent or the certificate of eligibility to retail petroleum shall submit an application to the Ministry of Industry and Trade or the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade in the form of official document or electronically to the email address published on the website of Ministry of Industry and Trade or the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade.

2. Administrative procedures followed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade

a) If the application is invalid, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall, within 07 business days from the receipt of the application, request the applicant in writing to modify it;

b) Within 30 business days from the receipt of the sufficient and valid application, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall examine and appraise the received application as well as the actual capacity of the applicant, and then issue the license to import/export petroleum, the certificate of eligibility for petroleum distribution or the certificate of eligibility to act as petroleum general agent (if the applicant’s distribution system involves 02 provinces or more) to the qualified applicant;

c) Depending on the specific case, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall cooperate or authorize the Department of Industry and Trade of the province where the applicant’s headquarters or its petroleum trading establishment is located to appraise and evaluate the actual capacity of the applicant and send report thereof to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for considering granting the certificate of eligibility for petroleum distribution or the certificate of eligibility to act as petroleum general agent;

d) If the results of the inspection visit to the applicant’s premises do not match with the submitted application, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall refuse to grant the license or certificate and provide reasons for refusal in writing to the applicant.

dd) If the results of the inspection visit to the applicant’s premises match with the submitted application, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall grant the license or certificate according to Form No. 2, Form No. 6 or Form No. 8 provided in the Appendix enclosed with the Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP .

3. Administrative procedures followed by each Provincial Department of Industry and Trade

a) If the application is invalid, the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade shall, within 03 business days from the receipt of the application, request the applicant in writing to modify it;

b) Within 20 business days from the receipt of the sufficient and valid application, the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade shall examine and appraise the received application as well as the actual capacity of the applicant, and then issue the certificate of eligibility to act as petroleum general agent (if the applicant has a distribution system in a province only), the certificate of eligibility to act as petroleum retailing agent or the certificate of eligibility to retail petroleum to the qualified applicant;  

c) If the results of the inspection visit to the applicant’s premises do not match with the submitted application, the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade shall refuse to grant the certificate and provide reasons for refusal in writing to the applicant;

d) If the results of the inspection visit to the applicant’s premises match with the submitted application, the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade shall grant the certificate to the applicant;

d) If the results of the inspection visit to the applicant’s premises match with the submitted application, the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade shall grant the certificate to the applicant according to Form No. 4, Form No. 8 or Form No. 10 provided in the Appendix enclosed with the Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP .

4. Applicants shall pay application processing fees in accordance with laws. The collected fees shall be used in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.”

Article 2. Amendments to and abrogation of certain Articles of the Circular No. 48/2011/TT-BCT dated December 30, 2011 of the Minister of Industry and Trade providing for quality control of group-2 products and goods under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade

1. Article 10b is added as follows:

“Article 10b.   Requirements to be satisfied by designated conformity assessment bodies

1. The conformity assessment body has completed procedures for registration of operations as regulated in Article 5, Article 9, Article 13 and Article 17 of the Government’s Decree No. 107/2016/ND-CP dated July 01, 2016 and has been issued with the certificate of eligibility to provide conformity assessment services by a competent authority.

2. It has sufficient technical documents, necessary standards and testing procedures conformable with corresponding technical regulations promulgated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.”

2. Article 11, Article 12, Article 13 and Article 14 are abrogated.

Article 3. Amendments to and abrogation of certain Articles of the Circular No. 33/2015/TT-BCT dated October 27, 2015 of the Minister of Industry and Trade prescribing technical safety inspection for electrical tools and equipment

1. Point b Clause 2 Article 6 is amended as follows:

“b) The inspection of electrical equipment which is not subject to Point a of this Clause shall be carried out on a periodical basis according to the manufacturer's instructions but the maximum interval between inspections of electrical tools and equipment in Section II and Section III Appendix I enclosed with the Circular No. 33/2015/TT-BCT shall not exceed 36 months.

2. Article 7 is amended as follows:

“1. Inspections of electrical tools and equipment shall be carried out by inspection bodies that meet the requirements in Article 9 of the Government's Decree No. 107/2016/ND-CP dated July 01, 2016 and have been issued with the certificate of eligibility to provide inspection services by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Application and procedures for grant of certificate of eligibility to provide inspection services shall comply with Article 10, Article 11 and Article 12 of the Decree No. 107/2016/ND-CP .

2. Inspection bodies shall take charge of formulating inspection procedures for each type of electrical tools and equipment based on national technical regulations and standards mentioned in Appendix II enclosed with the Circular No. 33/2015/TT-BCT , foreign technical regulations and standards applied in Vietnam, and manufacturer’s instructions. Items and methods of inspection must be described in each inspection procedure.

3. Upon completion of inspection, the inspection body shall stick inspection stamps on electrical tools and equipment that meet the inspection requirements.

a) Inspection stamp is prescribed in the Appendix III enclosed with the Circular No. 33/2015/TT-BCT. The inspection stamp must be stuck at a place which is noticeable and free from adverse impacts of the environment;

b) If the electrical equipment or tool is located at a place or in an environment where inspection stamps cannot be stuck, upon completion of inspection, the inspection body shall issue the certificate of inspection as replacement for stamps.”

3. Point b Clause 1 Article 10 is amended as follows:

“b) Receive and consider applications for certificate of eligibility to provide inspection services, and publish list of inspection bodies on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Trade”.

4. Point h Clause 4 Article 10 is amended as follows:

“Provide professional training and grant inspector cards to qualified persons in accordance with laws.   The training documents include those about measurement and quality of products and goods as prescribed by law and inspection contents prescribed in the Circular No. 33/2015/TT-BCT .

5. Clause 2 Article 3, Clause 9 Article 5, Article 8, Article 9, Point a Clause 4 Article 10, Section I Appendix I, Appendixes IV, V, VI, VII, VIII enclosed with the Circular No. 33/2015/TT-BCT are abrogated.

Article 4. Amendments to the Circular No. 12/2016/TT-BCT dated July 05, 2016 of the Minister of Industry and Trade providing amendments to the Circular No. 41/2012/TT-BCT dated December 21, 2012 of the Minister of Industry and Trade prescribing export of minerals

1. The phrase “có xác nhận của cơ quan Hải quan cửa khẩu nhập khẩu” (“certified by the customs authority at the port of entry” in Clause 2 Article 1 is deleted.

2. The phrase “Bản sao có chứng thực theo quy định” (“certified true copy”) in Clause 3 Article 1 is replaced by the phrase “Bản sao từ sổ gốc hoặc bản sao có chứng thực hoặc bản sao xuất trình kèm bản chính để đối chiếu” (“copy from the master register or certified true copy or copy presented with its original for verification purpose”).

Article 5. Amendments to the Circular No. 15/2013/TT-BCT dated July 15, 2013 of the Minister of Industry and Trade prescribing coal export

Clause 2a is added to Article 5 as follows:

 “2a. Documents prescribed in Point a, Point b Clause 2 Article 5 of this Circular are copies from the master register or certified true copies or copies presented with their originals for verification purpose”.

Article 6. Abrogation of some Circulars

The following shall be abrogated:

1. Chapter IV of the Circular No. 44/2010/TT-BCT dated December 31, 2010 of the Minister of Industry and Trade elaborating the Government's Decree No. 109/2010/ND-CP dated November 04, 2010 on rice export.

2. The Circular No. 20/2011/TT-BCT dated May 12, 2011 of the Minister of Industry and Trade on procedures for import of passenger cars of up to 09 seats and the Circular No. 04/2017/TT-BCT dated March 09, 2017 of the Minister of Industry and Trade providing amendments to the Circular No. 20/2011/TT-BCT .

Article 7. Transition

Applications for license/certificate received by regulatory authorities in charge of administrative procedures before the effective date of this Circular shall be processed in accordance with regulations in effect at the time of receipt of such applications.

Article 8. Implementation

1. This Circular comes into force as from January 01, 2018.

2. Difficulties that arise during the implementation of this Circular should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for consideration./.