Vietnam will temporarily suspended the import of outdated and second-hand manufacturing machinery from China.
The steel industry imports the largest number of outdated machines
The Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) also issued a list of second-hand equipment that the Chinese government has banned their domestic enterprises from using.
The decision was made by the MST with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance, and made public in an announcement about removing old equipment that is harmful to the environment from the manufacturing sector.
There were 18 sectors that will be affected by the decision, including iron production, coal refinery, metallurgy of copper, lead and zinc, electrolysis of aluminium, production of calcium carbide, chemical fiber, cement, flat glass, paper, wine, seasoning powder, citric acid, leather, dying and printing.
The enforcement of the suspension is to be carried out by the General Department of Custom beginning on September 15, with exemptions for equipment slated for re-export.
To pass customs, the importers must submit documents to prove that the machines are not on the suspension list. The MST will then verify the documents and respond within 30 days.
According to the General Department of Customs, equipment from China made up 31% of total imported machines in the first four months of 2012. Vietnam also has the highest number of domestic enterprises that import Chinese machinery, with USD801 million import turnover while the turnover of foreign-invested firms is USD673 million.
