Vietnam Used Machinery Imports: Checks Before Equipment Shipment

Before dismantling equipment overseas, establish its manufacture year, Vietnamese customs classification and import route. A working machine is not necessarily eligible for import, and a supplier’s condition report is not necessarily the certificate customs requires. Resolve these questions before releasing the shipment, rather than after committing to freight and installation.

Circular 56/2026/TT-BKHCN, issued and effective on 5 September 2026, is the current starting point. The issuing ministry lists it as in force. Older checklists based on Decision 18/2019/QD-TTg and its amendments need updating, although the circular preserves specified earlier certificates and pending procedures through transitional provisions.1 3

Establish whether the general machinery rules apply

The circular covers used machinery, equipment and technological lines under Harmonised System (HS) Chapters 84 and 85, imported for production in Vietnam and outside prohibited-import lists. It permits imports under this framework only where equipment directly serves an enterprise’s production in Vietnam. Do not assume it authorises importing used machines for unrestricted resale.1

Scope exclusions include machinery on sectoral high-risk product lists and equipment already governed by specialist legislation. Certain temporary-import arrangements and transactions involving export-processing enterprises are also excluded. These are exclusions from this circular, not exemptions from customs or sectoral controls. Temporary imports for processing contracts or production and construction under investment projects are specifically carved out of the temporary-import exclusion.1

Ask the customs broker to document classification and the applicable regulatory route. Keep that equipment decision separate from the wider Vietnam market-entry plan.

Calculate age using arrival year, not refurbishment date

For individual machinery and equipment, the general maximum age is ten years. Age is the year of arrival at a Vietnamese border checkpoint minus the manufacture year, calculated by years rather than months. A machine manufactured in 2016 therefore has an age of ten years on arrival in 2026, but eleven on arrival in 2027. Refurbishment does not replace the manufacture-year calculation.1 2

Appendix I contains specific longer limits. For example, listed metalworking lathes under HS heading 84.58 have a twenty-year limit, while specified equipment for wood, pulp, paper or paperboard under 84.19.35 has a fifteen-year limit. Match both the description and classification before relying on an exception. There is no general twenty-year allowance for everything in a factory.1

Article 10 provides a separate approval route for an enterprise already producing in Vietnam that needs over-age equipment to maintain production. It requires evidence of at least 85 per cent remaining capacity or efficiency and consumption of materials and energy no more than 15 per cent above design levels, plus Ministry of Science and Technology approval. A favourable inspection alone is not permission, and a new factory should not assume this maintenance route fits its circumstances.1

Distinguish a machine from a technological line

A technological line is an interconnected system arranged to operate synchronously for production. Its criteria differ from those for individual machinery, so treating a complete line merely as separate machines can lead to the wrong evidence plan.1

Article 5 requires a used line to retain at least 85 per cent of designed capacity or efficiency. Materials and energy consumption must not exceed design consumption by more than 15 per cent. Its technology must be outside the restricted and prohibited technology-transfer lists and be used at at least three production establishments in OECD countries.1

Both machinery and lines must meet relevant Vietnamese national technical regulations, known as QCVN, on safety, energy efficiency and environmental protection. Where no relevant QCVN exists, the circular specifies technical criteria from Vietnamese national standards, known as TCVN, or national standards of a G7 country or South Korea. A seller’s statement that equipment meets an international standard does not, by itself, identify the applicable benchmark.1

Obtain design specifications, performance records and the proposed standards assessment before agreeing to dismantling. For a line, ask how the inspector will substantiate each criterion, including the OECD production references.

Secure the right documents and inspector

For individual machinery manufactured in a G7 country or South Korea, Article 9 allows an original manufacturer’s confirmation of manufacture year and compliant manufacturing standards, consularly legalised and accompanied by a Vietnamese translation. If that confirmation is unavailable, a designated inspection organisation’s certificate is required. Machinery manufactured elsewhere requires the inspection certificate route. Manufacturing location, not the seller’s address or brand headquarters, determines this distinction.1

The ordinary technological-line route requires a designated organisation’s inspection certificate. Check the inspector’s current designation and scope before commissioning work. The circular allows organisations designated under the earlier rules to continue until their designation expires.1

Certificates must identify the equipment, manufacture year, brand, serial number, model, manufacturing country and manufacturer, alongside inspection details, methods and conclusions against the applicable criteria. Reconcile these with nameplates and packing lists.1

Articles 7 and 9 provide for authorities to retrieve enterprise-registration information from available databases, with a stamped certificate copy requested where information cannot be retrieved or is incomplete or inaccurate. Entrusted imports require written entrustment. Keep these corporate documents ready without mistaking them for technical clearance.1

Plan inspection and border timing together

Under the ordinary line route, inspection must take place in the exporting country while the line is operating. Inspect before dismantling. Its certificate must be no more than eighteen months old when the line reaches the Vietnamese border; an individual machinery certificate must be no more than six months old at arrival.1

For individual machinery lacking the manufacturer’s confirmation and inspection certificate at filing, Article 9 permits movement into preservation under customs law after submission of inspection-service registration confirmed by a designated organisation. The certificate must then be submitted within thirty days of movement into preservation. This is conditional storage, not completed clearance, and failed inspection can trigger penalties.1

Agree the inspection appointment, storage arrangements and document owner before departure. Build the shipment schedule around both certificate validity and equipment age, particularly where arrival could slip into another calendar year. Budget contingencies against actual logistics quotations, not an assumed standard clearance cost.

Check eligibility before choosing simplified line procedures

Article 8 offers a post-import inspection route for qualifying high-tech enterprises, strategic technology enterprises and projects eligible for special investment incentives and support. It is not available merely because equipment is advanced or an investor is foreign.1

The route requires eligibility information, an undertaking and a designated inspector’s confirmed registration with equipment lists. Shipments must use one customs-clearance location. The inspection certificate is due within twelve months of the first shipment entering preservation. During preservation, installation and operation are permitted for inspection, not production. Failure to meet the criteria leads to penalties and compulsory re-export.1

Compare that conditional route with overseas inspection before choosing it. Keep supporting project records alongside the documentation discussed in the Investment Registration Certificate guide, but obtain a specific eligibility assessment rather than treating project registration as automatic qualification.

Pre-shipment checklist

• Confirm HS classification, intended production use and any specialist regulatory route.
• Establish manufacture year and test the expected arrival year against the applicable age limit.
• Decide whether the import is individual machinery or a technological line.
• Secure manufacturer evidence or a properly designated inspector, as applicable.
• Align inspection, dismantling, certificate validity and customs-preservation deadlines.
• Make shipment release conditional on required approvals and a complete evidence file.

Focused questions

Does machinery younger than ten years qualify automatically?

No. Age is only one criterion. Applicable technical standards, import prohibitions, intended use and documentary requirements still matter.1

Can an overseas inspection company issue the certificate?

Only use an organisation with the required designation for this framework. Foreign accreditation alone is not a substitute for checking its Vietnamese designation and scope.1

Must an earlier certificate be replaced because of the September circular?

Not automatically. Article 17 permits qualifying certificates issued under the earlier framework before the circular became effective to remain usable until expiry. Check the issue date, applicable validity and transaction circumstances before relying on that transition.1

References

• 1 Ministry of Science and Technology: signed Circular 56/2026/TT-BKHCN, including Articles 1 to 12 and 17 to 18 and Appendix I
• 2 Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park: criteria for importing used machinery from 5 September 2026, published 14 September 2026
• 3 Ministry of Science and Technology: Circular 56/2026/TT-BKHCN official record, issue date, commencement and in-force status