‘Unpublishing Vietnam’s technical regulations will go against international practice’

On the afternoon of November 28, the National Assembly discussed the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Standards and Technical Regulations. Some comments refer to regulations of conformity (compliance with technical regulations), the conformity of products, services or processes with national, international or local standards and technical standards. The method and quality of the product are evaluated.

Vice Chairman of the Culture and Education Committee Ta Van Ha said that current technical standards do not promptly meet the development trends of science and technology as well as market needs. Many fields must use international standards. Some regulations give rise to sublicenses or unreasonable administrative procedures.

Mr. Ha said that the business has proposed to remove veterinary drugs and animal feed from being required to declare conformity according to current regulations. These products are conditional business areas that must go through appraisal, evaluation and certification of eligibility before production.

For example, veterinary drugs are regulated very strictly, complying with WHO good manufacturing practice standards. To be produced, licensed, and circulated on the market, each product must be registered and issued with a Certificate of Circulation by the Department of Animal Health.

According to Mr. Ha, the requirement forces businesses to declare compliance with some products that have problems, duplication, and formality. The nature of declaration of conformity does not improve product quality. The production and circulation processes are strictly controlled and inspected. “Adding a declaration of conformity to regulations is considered a sub-licence, adding costs to businesses, easily generating negativity and also increasing the price of the product,” Mr. Ha said.

Delegate Dieu Huynh Sang, Deputy Delegation of Binh Phuoc, said that the draft law stipulates that businesses can self-assess their compliance with regulations, but this assessment must still be based on testing results at a recognized or designated organization. . In fact, some types of goods still have technical regulations to ensure safety for users; Minimize risks through management measures. If we continue to maintain regulations requiring product conformity and pre-inspection of products before releasing them into circulation, it will cost money and slow down the production and supply of goods for businesses.

She proposed that the Drafting Committee supplement regulations on post-inspection mechanisms to determine products and goods in accordance with corresponding technical regulations, creating flexibility for specialized management agencies.

Delegate Pham Van Thinh, Head of the Mass Mobilization Committee of the Bac Giang Provincial Party Committee, said that in practice there are effective technical regulations but there is no unit to evaluate the conformity or there is one but not enough capacity, causing problems. rules on business operations.

He took the example of wood glue, when imported goods arrived at the port but were stuck because the business did not hire a compliant unit. Meanwhile, enterprises importing construction materials according to regulations on imported goods subject to pre-customs clearance inspection must rely on the results of certification of conformity with designated certification organizations. But currently, the management agency has no document designating a conformity certification unit, so businesses are currently very confused.

Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat said there is no overlap between the Law on Standards and Technical Regulations and other specialized laws. Regarding procedures for declaring conformity, businesses encounter difficulties mainly due to problems with specialized laws. They must both comply with technical regulations developed by specialized ministries and take other measures to ensure product quality. Thus, the regulations are too strict, leading to businesses having to comply with many procedures at the same time.

“Abolishing the procedure for declaring conformity to regulations is no different from Vietnam abolishing technical regulations because once there are technical regulations, declaration of conformity is required to control and ensure the quality of products and goods.” , Minister Dat said.

Abolishing the procedure for declaring conformity with technical regulations or regulations will go against international practices and international commitments, and will cause risks and insecurity. Especially when there are products and goods that do not have quality control measures. The Ministry of Science and Technology will continue to research to supplement and clarify this regulation.

Minister Huynh Thanh Dat also agreed with the opinion that businesses evaluate conformity based on the results of conformity assessment based on standards; Supplementing a post-inspection mechanism for the product’s risk level.

The Law on Standards and Technical Regulations (amended) is expected to be passed at the mid-2025 session.