New model of quality inspection: Focal points will reduce

Business associations comment on the draft scheme. Photo: N.L

At the meeting, GDVC’s Deputy Director General Mai Xuan Thanh said in Government Resolution 99/NQ-CP dated November 13, 2019, the Ministry of Finance is assigned to develop contents on specialised inspection and the GDVC is the focal point. After the resolution was issued, the Ministry of Finance directed the GDVC for early deployment.

“The GDVC has had working sessions with domestic and international experts, associations, businesses and researchers; reported to the Government Office and received comments from ministries, sectors in developing the scheme on reforming the model of quality control and food safety inspection for imported goods,” Thanh said.

Also, Thanh said the current quality control model is governed by the Law on Product Quality, the Law on Food Safety, some relevant laws and its subordinate documents.

“From these two laws, ministries and sectors issued many separate processes for each commodity industry. Basically, each ministry and sector issued its own process, leading to inconsistencies and less transparency. A law provides many procedures; each ministry regulates difference process on quality control,” Thanh said.

From this fact, the new model is developed towards unifying and simplifying the process of quality control procedures and food safety inspection. Besides, quality inspection by goods owners will be changed into quality inspection by goods. In fact, there are goods from same manufacturer, same production line, same standards and same technology, but different importers will be inspected, causing social waste

The GDVC’s Deputy Director General Mai Xuan Thanh at the meeting. Photo: N.L

The scheme provides the new model of quality control and food safety inspection for imported goods with five process channels equivalent to five different inspection regimes.

The first channel will comply with current regulations. The second, for goods granted conformity certificate, importers will carry out customs procedures and register quality control with Customs; Customs will check dossiers, notify result and conduct customs clearance.

The third channel, for goods that have not been granted conformity certificate, when the business carries out customs procedures but has not yet been granted conformity certificate. For this process, the business shall register for quality control with Customs. Customs shall send the request to the designated inspection organisation, and check dossiers and verification results, and issue notification on quality control results and implement customs clearance.

The fourth and fifth channels are the result after three consecutive inspections meeting requirements and customs shall conduct the normal inspection and reduced inspection.

With this new model, border gate customs branches are the quality inspection authority but only in some stages to cut procedures for the business. The business only registers with Customs instead of working with inspection agencies, ministries and sectors.

“Customs branches are responsible for checking documents and the conformity certificate of imported goods, send the request to the designated inspection organisation, and check dossiers and verification results, and issue notification on quality control result and implement customs clearance,” and procedures should be carried out by one focal point to avoid overlapping procedures among management agencies, Thanh said.

Pham Thi Ngoc Thuy, Deputy Director of the Office of Private Economic Development Research Department speaks at the meeting. Photo: N.Linh

At the meeting, representatives of business associations agreed on the Government's reform policy and gave specific comments on the deployment of the new model to facilitate and reduce costs for businesses.