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For specialized inspection, currently, there is no document that specifically defines this concept. However, the concept of goods subject to specialized inspection is stated in Article 35 of the ‘Law on Customs 2014’ and specified in Clause 5, Article 3 of ‘Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP’ of the Government detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Customs (hereinafter referred to as Decree 08/2015/ND-CP for short) as follows:

 “Export and import goods subject to specialized inspection are exported or imported goods subject to inspection for quality, health, culture, animal quarantine, plant quarantine, and food safety according to provisions of law”.

From this definition, it can be understood that specialized inspection includes collection  of samples by a competent authority to check whether such goods meet the requirements or technical standards as prescribed by the specialized industry or not.

Regarding documents regulating specialized inspection, previously, there was Decision No. 50/2006/QD-TTg stipulating the list of products and goods subject to quality inspection. This document has expired and has been annulled by Decision No. 37/2017/QD-Ttg dated 17 August 2017. Currently, there is no replacement for the annulled document. Therefore, in order to know if imported and exported goods are subject to specialized inspection, enterprises need to look up goods intended for import and export in the list of goods notified by specialized management ministries. Enterprises can refer to some of the following documents:

• Decision No. 3810/QD-BKHCN dated 18 December 2019 of the Ministry of Science and Technology;
• Decision 1182/QD-BCT dated 6 April 2021 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;
• Circular No. 11/2020/TT-BTTTT dated 14May 2020 of the Ministry of Information and Communications;
• Circular No. 15/2018/TT-BNNPTNT dated 29 October 2018 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Exemption from specialized inspection

By looking at the abovementioned regulations, we see that the range of goods subject to specialized inspection is quite wide. However, there are still few exemptions from specialized inspection specified in Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP, Decree No. 74/2018/ND-CP, Decree No. 85/2019/ND -CP, consolidated and supplemented in Decision No. 38/QD-TTg dated 12/01/2021. Accordingly, cases exempt from quality inspection and food safety inspection include:

• The movable assets of organizations and individuals within the tax-free quota, gifts and gifts within the import duty-free quota in accordance with tax laws.
• Goods imported in tax-free quantities as prescribed by law, serving the the work and daily life of foreign individuals/organizations who are entitled to diplomatic privileges and immunities.
• Goods in transit, border-gate transfer, transshipment, and temporarly imported goods sent to bonded warehouses for further export.
• Samples of goods for advertising that have no use value, or samples for testing or research in quantities suitable for testing or research purposes, certified by relevant organizations or individuals.
• Goods temporarily imported for display at fairs and exhibitions.
• Goods temporarily imported for sale at duty-free shops.
• Goods exchanged by border residents within the tax-free quota.
• Imported goods sent via postal or express delivery services having a value which is exempt from tax according to the provisions of tax law.
• Goods imported on the spot.
• Goods imported for repair or recycling.
• Specialized imports for security and defense purposes.
• Goods that have been granted a certificate of receipt for registration of product announcement (for goods subject to food safety inspection).
• Goods which are products, raw materials and components imported for the production or processing of goods for export.
• Goods which are products, raw materials and components imported to directly serve the production of the importer.
• Imported goods which are single goods for warranty or replacement, and goods that are part of a synchronous equipment line.
• Goods imported from manufacturers that have been inspected at the source by a responsible Vietnamese agency and announced by line ministries from time to time.
• Goods which are manufactured by advanced technology and originate from countries and territories with high quality standards as shown by quality labels (for example, goods are labeled CE, KC, FDA) published by line ministries from time to time.
• Goods imported to serve urgent requirements under the direction of the Government or the Prime Minister.
• Other imported goods as prescribed by specialized laws (if any).

Currently, with the rapid development of science and technology, a commodity that integrates with many features leads to having to comply with specialized management of many different agencies. An example of this is the LED TV. This is an electric device subject to energy efficiency management according to Decision 1182/QD-BCT of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. In addition, due to the integration of wifi and DVB-T2 transceiver functions, it also falls under the specialized management of the Ministry of Information and Communications according to Circular No. 11/2020/TT-BTTTT. Thus, for this product to be cleared, it may have to go through many different procedures, which take a lot of time and costs for businesses.

With the project approved in Decision No. 38/QD-TTg, specialized inspection activities are expected to be comprehensively reformed. New regulations on specialized inspection activities for imported goods are expected to be brough for speeding up procedures for quality inspection and food safety inspection. This reduces contact points between enterprises and agencies and organizations, thereby cutting costs required for customs clearance.

Time of writing: May 25, 2021

The article is based on the current law at the time of recording as above and may no longer be relevant at the time readers access this article due to changes in applicable law and specific cases that the reader wants to apply. Therefore, the article is for reference only.