The Vietnam Register (VR) was already inspecting and certifying ships in 1970 and has become increasingly important over time. Since 1984 it has been working under the supervision of the Ministry of Transport and from 2000 it was also responsible for the inspection and certification of vehicles and their components. Nowadays, the VR is responsible for quality and safety in road, rail and shipping transport. The VR has its own testing facilities.
The VR certifies according to the official standards, the QCVN. A wide range of industrial products are affected, in the automotive sector these are lights, mirrors, tyres, rims, interiors, safety glass and fuel tanks.
The certification process includes a factory inspection, testing in Vietnam and follow-up testing. Please note that all documents must be translated into Vietnamese.
The most important facts about QCVN certification
- Application forms
- Company licence and profile
- Flowchart and description of production
- List of all production and testing machines
- Data sheet and drawing of the product to be certified
All documents must be in Vietnamese.
- Application documents: 1-4 weeks
- Factory inspection: 2-6 months
- Product testing in Vietnam: 1 month
- Certificate: 1-2 months
- Product marking: depending on customer
- Application costs: ~60€
- Test fees: ~170-360 €
- COP Check: ~150 €
- travel expenses of auditors, if applicable: ~2.500 €
- Audit fees: ~800 €
- Audit support, if applicable: ~1,200 €
- If applicable, travel expenses of audit facilitator: from ~1,000 €
- Consulting fees: from ~1500 €
What is the QCVN certification for?
QCVN certification works with standards for the following areas:
- Shipping
- marine materials handling
- road transport
- rail transport
And within these areas the following product groups are concerned:
- safety-relevant components of vehicles (see above)
- pumps, pipes, boilers and pressure vessels
- Welding technology
- Rail vehicles
- Safety management in public rail transport
How does the QCVN certification process work?
As described above, QCVN certification has 5 essential steps:
- Submit application documents translated into Vietnamese
- Await factory inspection
- Carry out product testing in Vietnam
- Receive certification
- Repeat tests every three years
Frequent mistakes
There are errors in the application documents
ince everything has to be translated, there may be mistranslations or similar errors. These must be avoided at all costs.
The products do not meet the standards
Vietnamese standards are very much adapted to the specific conditions in Vietnam. There can be many discrepancies with international standards.