Vietnam MIC has officially made some major changes in certification method for products and goods under its management scope. The updates went into effect on July 01, 2020.

• MiC Vietnam approval shall grant a type approval certificate for overseas manufacturers directly. ( previously only can be hold by local Importer, now by overseas manufacturers hold the cert and they can authorize multiple importers)
• Overseas manufacturers are allowed to sign a self-assessment declaration of conformity which is needed for the “Product Quality Inspection Registration” (PQIR) process which is a part of the customs clearance process. In such cases, Self-assessment DoC must be based on the test report which oversea manufacturer is “test applicant” (test report holder).
• In order to use “Type Approval certificate” and “Self-assessment DoC” granted under a name of oversea manufacturer(s), local importer shall need to submit a “notification on list of product models and importers allowed” to VNTA during PQIR process.
• Conformity certification organizations can be VNTA or any other certification bodies which are designated by MIC Vietnam for certification activities.

New certification systems have been officially introduced, which now includes three methods:

• Certification system 1: Certification based on typical sample testing, applicable for products manufactured by ISO 9001 certified factories. Certificate granted under this system shall be valid for maximum of 3 years.
• Certification system 5: Certification based on typical sample testing combined with factory inspection applicable for products manufactured by a factory that has not obtain ISO 9001 certificate yet. Certificate granted under this system shall be valid for a maximum of 3 years but factory audit shall be required anually to maintain certificate validity.
• Certification system 7: Consignment approval (per-lot approval), applicable when system 1 or system 5 are not applicable. Certificate granted under this system shall be valid for a single import lot / consigment only.

Type Approval Certificate or Letter of Acceptance of Declaration of Conformity granted before the enforcement date of this circular shall keep its validity.