Cargo Verification

Importing and exporting goods is an important economic activity of each country, and assuring imports and exports plays an important role in improving the effectiveness of contract enforcement and, at the same time, preventing risks for all parties.

According to the Law on Product Quality, commodity inspection is a technical operation in a certain process aimed at assessing and certifying conformity of products and goods with respective technical requirements.

Cargo inspection must be conducted promptly to detect their defects and notify sellers thereof to seek remedies, minimise arising expenses and ensure interests for both parties. Defects are simply understood as impurity, flaw or incompatibility between real goods and contractual agreements like quality, specification and packaging.
Inspection is performed objectively, scientifically, accurately. Export and import verification must be based on customs information, customs regulations, standards, norms and specific regulations of authorities that carry out specialised management.

Official assurance started in 1957 when the Department of Goods Inspection for Import-Export under the Ministry of Trade (now Ministry of Industry and Trade), the precursor of Vinacontrol, was established. After a long time of being solely provided by some State-owned enterprises (SOEs), Vietnam’s assurance service market is catching a new wind, gathering hundreds of private businesses and foreign firms. 2002 was seen as a peak year when a lot of private assurance companies were founded.

At present, market players fiercely vie for the goods inspection service market. Major foreign assurance organisations have entered Vietnam quietly. They first of all set up representative offices and joint ventures with domestic partners, they then founded assurance companies in the country. Some companies are now no longer limited to the scope of inspection services but have expanded to other activities, from certification of international standard systems for quality, environment, appraisal and auditing to environmental impact assessment and auditor training for client companies. Vinacontrol is a typical example.

In Vietnam, some companies are very strong in cargo inspection services like Cafecontrol for agricultural products; FCC for disinfection; Nafiqaved of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for aquatic products; and QUATEST 3 of the Ministry of Science and Technology for consumer goods, which recently became a counterweight to international accreditation organisations. This unit offers technical services in the fields of quality standardisation and measurement to serve State management assigned to relevant ministries and sectors; to meet technical requirements of organisations and enterprises, to raise product quality and safety and protect consumer interests: Testing product quality and safety, foods, consumer goods; technical appraisal and assessment; export and import certification; and industrial production.

In addition, big foreign names have been present in Vietnam, including SGS headquartered in Switzerland, TUV SUD of Germany, Intertek of the United Kingdom and UL of the United States. The birth and contribution of big names is needed for quality assurance of Vietnamese goods to meet import standards imposed by selective markets like the United States and Europe. Furthermore, businesses and testing and assurance companies of Vietnam also have the opportunity to exchange technical information and expertise in testing, inspecting and certifying products, update information on standards, norms and regulations of controlling products from relevant countries.

Cargo inspection costs are currently flexible and relatively low compared to other countries in the region and in the world. This has resulted in fierce competition among domestic and foreign companies.