Thailand and Indonesia were the first two countries which adjusted their regulations to be in accordance with Vietnam’s automobile import regulation under Decree 116 which was effective on January 1, 2018.   

Decree 116 has tightened controls for imported automobiles in terms of origin, types, technical safety, and environment protection requirements. The exporters are required to declare a number of approved certifications. 

Honda Vietnam was the first company to respond to the measure and started to import automobiles from Thailand last March, followed by other companies which imported automobiles in April. However, those imported automobiles had not been distributed since they were under implementation processes.

Ford Vietnam indicated that all procedures were followed in order to import automobiles to Vietnam but it took times for Ford’s suppliers to order from the overseas. The imported automobiles would arrive in 3rd or 4th quarter of 2018.

Toyota Vietnam insisted that the import of automobiles from Thailand and Indonesia for distribution would have come soon. However, the company could not import LEXUS and Toyota from Japan since Japan saw the difficulty of receiving approvals for the certifications.

Both Thailand and Indonesia had amended their regulations in order to be in accordance with Vietnam’s automobile import certification whereas other countries had not amended their regulations which caused them not to be able to export their automobiles to Vietnam.