Licence the imported scrap: The examination and evaluation process of documents is very strict (?)

Mr. Le Hoai Nam

Although the issue is being paid special attention and a hot topic for most newspapers, however, after nearly one month of contacting, meeting directly with the Head of the General Department of Environment (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), sending a letter to the Ministry's leaders for an interview, it was not until the afternoon of July 30 that the Customs Newspaper received the official answer. Specifically, the opinion of Mr. Le Hoai Nam, Head of Quality Management Department, General Department of Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on the issuance process of a Certificate of eligibility for environmental protection in the import of scrap for the production materials for organizations and individuals.

Dear Sir, how is the issuance process of a Certificate of eligibility for environmental protection in the import of scrap for production materials for organizations and individuals directly using imported scrap as raw materials carried out by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment?

According to the provisions of the Law on Environmental Protection 2014, the scrap imported from abroad into Vietnam must meet the environmental technical standards and be on the list of scraps permitted for import as stipulated by the Prime Minister. In addition, the organizations and the individuals that import the scraps must meet the requirements and conditions for environmental protection in the import of scrap for the production materials.

In order to guide the implementation of the Law on Environmental Protection in the management of imported scrap, the Government has issued Decree No. 38/2015/ND-CP dated 24/4/2015 on the management of waste and scrap. The contents of management on environmental protection in the import of scrap are prescribed in Chapter VIII with 9 articles: Objects permitted to import scrap from abroad into Vietnam; Conditions on the environmental protection in the import of scrap; The purpose and method of making a deposit for the imported scrap; The deposit for imported scrap; The process of escrow depositing for the imported scrap; Managing and using the deposited amount of imported scrap; Responsibilities of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment; Responsibilities of provincial people's committees; and responsibilities of the organizations and individuals importing or using scraps.

The Prime Minister issued Decision No. 73/2014/QD-TTg dated December 29, 2014 regulating the list of scrap allowed to be imported as raw materials for production.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment also issued Circular No. 41/2015/TT-BTNMT dated September 9, 2015 regulating on environmental protection in the import of scrap for production materials, which guides the order and procedures for granting, re-granting and withdrawing the certificate of eligibility of environmental protection conditions in the import of scrap for the production materials hereinafter called the Certificate); The requirements on environmental protection in inspection and clearance of imported scraps; Requirements for organizations participating in certificating the eligibility of environmental technology standards for imported scrap used as the raw materials for production. Together with that, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment promulgate the national technical standards on environment for the imported scraps.

The competence to grant the certificates is decentralized to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the provincial/municipal Services of Natural Resources and Environment, specifically:

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall grant, re-grant or withdraw the certificates of eligibility for environmental protection in the import of scrap as raw materials for production in the following cases:

Firstly, the organizations and individuals directly using imported scrap as raw materials for production in cases of: Paper scraps and plastic scraps with a volume of over 200 tons/year; iron and steel scraps with volume of over 5,000 tons/year; gypsum, granular slag from the iron and steel industry with the import volume of over 500 tons/year; silk and glass scraps with the import volume of over 100 tons/year; chemical elements used in electronics, in the form of discs, sheets, or similar types and metal scrap with the import volume of over 50 tonnes/ year.

Secondly, the organizations and the individuals undertaking entrusted import for the organizations and the individuals using the imported scrap as raw materials for production.

The provincial/municipal Natural Resources and Environment Services granting, re-granting and withdrawing the Certification for the organizations and individuals importing directly scraps as raw materials for production do not belong to the above cases.

In order to be granted the Certificate, the conditions in the import of scrap as raw materials for production require organizations and individuals to have to compile dossiers of application and send them to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment or provincial/municipal Services of Natural Resources and Environment for consideration and handling under its authority and competence.

After the dossiers of application for import of scraps by the organizations or individuals are evaluated on completeness and regularity, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment or the provincial/municipal Natural Resources and Environment Services shall issue the Decisions to set up the inspection teams for the environmental protection conditions of the units and organize the inspection of the actual conditions on environmental protection in the import of scrap as raw materials for production at production establishments using the imported scrap which the organizations, individuals are recommending.

In case of necessity, the inspection team will carry out sampling, analysis and consult the concerned organizations and individuals. At the same time, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment or the provincial/municipal Natural Resources and Environment Services shall not organize the inspection teams in cases where organizations or individuals are undertaking entrusted import of scrap as raw materials for production when there are no warehouses, storage dumps for the scrap imported.

After obtaining the results of actual inspection, if the production establishments of organizations or individuals which requested the import satisfy the conditions for environmental protection according to the regulations, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment or the provincial/municipal Services Natural Resources and Environment shall consider and issue the Certificates. In cases where the production establishments of organizations or individuals requesting for import have not met fully the environmental protection conditions yet according to the regulations, the competent agencies shall notify in writing to the organizations, individuals to improve the dossiers, and conditions on the environmental protection as required.

The procedures for considering and evaluating the dossiers and inspecting at the production establishments of importing organizations and individuals are regulated strictly, the competent agencies must consider fully the conditions, request the legal documents of the establishments; the technological processing conditions of the production establishments; requirements and conditions on work and measures for environmental protection; Contracts for collection, transfer and treatment of wastes arising in the course of using imported scraps; the scrap suggested for import must be on the list of scraps permitted for importation prescribed by the Prime Minister.

During the implementation of the importer’s procedures, customs clearance of imported scraps, the organizations and individuals must comply with the regulations of the Customs offices and the requirements on environmental protection in the inspection, clearance of imported scraps fully specified in Article 10 of Circular No. 41/2015 / TT-BTNMT.

The time limit for the issue of the certificates within the competence of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is 40 working days. The time limit for the issue of certificates is 30 working days under the competence of the provincial/municipal Services of Natural Resources and Environment.

Dear Sir, how does the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment coordinate with the Customs office to provide the information of the enterprises allowed to import the scrap as raw materials for production?

Previously, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Customs have not had a coordination mechanism to provide the information of enterprises importing scrap as raw materials for production. Therefore, when an enterprise imported scrap to ports, the enterprise owner would submit the certificate to the Customs office directly to inspect and carry out the customs clearance. Particularly, the written notices on lots of imported scrap for inspection and customs clearance were sent to importing organizations and individuals and the border-gate Customs units by competent agencies of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment via Fax or Email.

Since early July, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has coordinated with the General Department of Customs to announce and allow to carry out the administrative procedures under the National Single Window. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has transferred all information on the certificate in time-limit of eligibility of scrap import by the enterprises to the National Single Window portal in order to create favorable conditions for border-gate Customs offices for the purpose of monitoring, referring to the process of carrying out the clearance procedures of the imported scraps.

Thank you, Sir!