Vietnam: Order and procedures for formulation, appraisal and promulgation of national standards

According to Circular No. 21/2007/TT-BKHCN of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam, Ministries and branches designate their attached scientific and technological bodies or organizations or set up the specialized standards technical boards (below referred to as the drafting organizations) to draft national standards according to the following steps:

Step 1: Drafting the national standards

The drafting boards compile the draft national standards and write explanations therefor.

Step 2: Gathering comments and finalizing the drafts

- Ministries or branches send draft national standards to relevant agencies, organizations and individuals for comment and announce the comment gathering on the websites of their own and of the Directorate for Standards and Quality. The time for gathering comments on a draft is within sixty days from the date the draft is sent;

- Ministries or branches organize seminars with the participation of relevant parties for discussing and commenting on the drafts;

- The drafting boards synthesize and process comments to finalize the draft national standards and compile national standards dossiers under the provisions of Clause 1, Article 5 of the Government's Decree No. 127/2007/ND-CP and send them to the ministries and branches (excluding the Ministry of Science and Technology) for verification;

- Ministries and branches organize the verification of draft national standards and transfer the dossiers thereon to the Ministry of Science and Technology for appraisal.

Step 3: Appraisal of dossiers on draft national standards

- The Directorate for Standards and Quality examines the dossiers on draft national standards proposed for verification by ministries and branches. If the draft national standard dossiers proposed for verification fail to meet the requirements as prescribed, the Directorate for Standards and Quality requests concerned ministries or branches to complete the dossiers.

- The Directorate for Standards and Quality sets up the Appraisal Council for examination of draft national standards according to the contents defined in Article 18 of the Law on Standards and Technical Regulations.

The Appraisal Council is composed of representatives of relevant agencies, organizations and national standards technical boards and other experts. It works on the principle of collectivism and votes by majority with at least two-thirds (2/3) of its present members.

- The Appraisal Council makes records on verification of draft national standards with specific conclusions and proposals and sends them to the Directorate for Standards and Quality.

Step 4: Promulgation of national standards

- The Directorate for Standards and Quality examines the verification results and compiles dossiers on draft national standards for submission and approval.

+ If the draft national standard meets the requirements according to the verification contents, the Directorate for Standards and Quality submits them to the Minister of Science and Technology for consideration and promulgation.

+ If the draft national standards fail to meet the requirements according to the verification contents, the Directorate for Standards and Quality transfers the draft national standard dossiers to relevant ministries or branches for handling and finalizing the draft national standards.

- The Ministry of Science and Technology reports them to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision if ministries or branches disagree with the verification opinions.

View more details at the Circular No. 21/2007/TT-BKHCN of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam, effective from November 04, 2007.

Ty Na

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