HANOI: Vietnamese car importers have been unable to obtain customs clearance for their shipments because of a disagreement between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and The Ministry of Transport counterpart, who refuse to see eye to eye on a set of regulations. In 2011, the trade ministry issued Circular No.20, stipulating that car importers must obtain two kinds of certification in order for their imports to clear customs. Car retailers must firstly have an official import authorization from the car manufacturers, and then an additional certificate, issued by the transport ministry-run Vietnam Register, to prove they have a standardized facility for car maintenance and repairs.
Vietnamese car importers had been able to follow Circular No.20 without issue until the middle of this year, when the transport ministry said they would no longer issue their own certificate. Under the new Law on investment, effective since July 1, the importation of motor vehicles is no longer a conditioned business, meaning that importers will no longer have to meet as many conditions, including obtaining the Vietnam Register-issued certificate, according to the transport ministry. The situation gets more complicated for car importers when the trade ministry, despite the position of its transport counterpart, insists that businesses must still have both papers or risk shipments held at port without customs clearance.
