Detailed Freezer Import Procedures in Vietnam

When performing procedures for Freezer Import, enterprises need to comply with a specific process to ensure that goods are cleared legally and in accordance with regulations. Therefore, this article from Phuc Gia will provide detailed instructions on the steps required for Freezer import procedures, from A to Z.

See more: Capacity Profile Of Phuc Gia Laboratory Corporation

Table of contents

1. What is a freezer?

A freezer is a common food preservation device in modern life. This type of equipment operates according to a closed refrigeration cycle. Initially, gas is compressed by a compressor to increase temperature and pressure. Then, this gas is passed through a condenser to dissipate heat, condensing into a liquid and flowing into an expansion valve. Here, the refrigerant moves from a high-pressure zone to a low-pressure zone, evaporates, and absorbs heat from the space inside the cabinet, cooling the air. After the evaporation process, the refrigerant returns to the compressor, and the cycle is repeated.

If you need to store unprocessed food for a long time or in large quantities, a freezer is the optimal solution thanks to its large capacity and deep cooling ability.

Thủ tục nhập khẩu tủ đông — *Freezers are two common food preservation devices in modern life*

2. Legal documents regulating Freezer import procedures

Freezer Import procedures must comply with several current legal regulations issued by competent State agencies, including:

Decision No. 04/2017/QĐ-TTg: Stipulating the list of vehicles and equipment subject to energy labeling, application of minimum energy performance levels, and implementation roadmap issued by the Prime Minister on March 09, 2017.
Decision No. 14/2023/QĐ-TTg: Promulgating the List and roadmap of energy-using vehicles and equipment to be discarded and low-efficiency power generating units not to be newly built issued by the Prime Minister on May 24, 2023.
Decree No. 69/2018/NĐ-CP: Detailing a number of articles of the Law on Foreign Trade Management issued by the Government on May 15, 2018.
Decision No. 1182/QĐ-BCT: On the promulgation of lists of imported goods (with HS codes) subject to specialized inspection under the management responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued by the Minister of Industry and Trade on April 06, 2021.
Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC (amended by No. 39/2018/TT-BTC): Regulating customs procedures; customs inspection and supervision; export tax, import tax, and tax administration for exported and imported goods issued by the Minister of Finance on March 25, 2015.
QCVN 9:2012/BKHCN (amended 2018): On electromagnetic compatibility for household electrical and electronic equipment and similar purposes issued by the Minister of Science and Technology through Circular 07/2018/TT-BKHCN on June 06, 2018.
TCVN 7828:2013 (expired March 31, 2025) → replaced by TCVN 7828:2016 (effective April 01, 2025): For refrigerators, frozen food storage cabinets – energy efficiency issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2016.
TCVN 10289:2014: Technical requirements for commercial refrigerated cabinets issued as a National Standard by the Ministry of Science and Technology through the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality.
RoHS Regulations (applied 2026): Restricting the content of hazardous chemicals in electrical and electronic equipment.
Circular No. 28/2012/TT-BKHCN & No. 02/2017/TT-BKHCN: Declaration of standard and regulation conformity and methods for conformity assessment.
Circular No. 01/2022/TT-BKHCN: Amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 07/2018/TT-BKHCN dated June 06, 2018, and Circular No. 08/2019/TT-BKHCN dated September 25, 2019, of the Minister of Science and Technology.
Decision No. 1983/QĐ-TĐC: On the issuance of guidelines for certification of conformity with national technical regulation QCVN 9:2012/BKHCN on electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) for household electrical and electronic equipment and similar purposes.
VAT Law No. 48/2024/QH15: Value Added Tax Law issued by the National Assembly on November 26, 2024.
Official Dispatch No. 862/TCHQ-TXNK: Instructions for classifying a number of items issued by the General Department of Customs on February 20, 2025.
Decision No. 2711/QĐ-BKHCN: On the announcement of group 2 products and goods under the management responsibility of the Ministry of Science and Technology issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology on December 30, 2022.

3. HS Codes and Taxation for Freezer Import Protocols

The following schedule details the tax rates for commodities under heading 8418 – encompassing refrigerating equipment, freezers, and refrigerators. This reference assists businesses in determining Value Added Tax (VAT), preferential import duties, and standard import duties necessary for the Freezer Import process of refrigeration units:

HS Code	Product Description	VAT (%)	Preferential Import Tax (%)	Import Tax (%)
8418.10.31	Combined refrigerator-freezers, household, volume ≤ 230 liters	10	25	37,5
8418.10.32	Combined refrigerator-freezers, household, volume > 230 liters	10	25	37,5
8418.10.39	Combined refrigerator-freezers – others	10	3	4,5
8418.21.10	Compression-type refrigerators, household, volume ≤ 230 liters	10	25	37,5
8418.21.90	Compression-type refrigerators, household – others	10	25	37,5
8418.29.00	Other refrigerators not elsewhere specified	10	35	52,5
8418.30.10	Freezers of the chest type, volume ≤ 200 liters	10	20	30
8418.30.90	Freezers of the chest type – others	10	20	30
8418.40.10	Freezers of the upright type, volume ≤ 200 liters	10	20	30
8418.40.90	Freezers of the upright type – others	10	20	30
8418.50.19	Refrigerated show cases/counters, volume > 200 liters	10	10	15
8418.50.99	Other refrigerated show cases – others	10	20	30
8418.69.10	Beverage chillers	10	10	15
8418.69.30	Drinking water coolers (e.g., water dispensing machines)	10	10	15

4. Documentation set to prepare for Freezer Import

The set of import-export documents for freezers and other items in general is regulated according to Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC dated March 25, 2015, of the Ministry of Finance, and amended and supplemented in Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC dated April 20, 2018, providing regulations on customs procedures; customs inspection and supervision; export tax, import tax, and tax administration for exported and imported goods.

For freezer items, the documentation set to prepare includes the following types of papers:

Customs declaration
Commercial invoice
Bill of lading
Packing list
Sales contract
Quality inspection dossier
Energy labeling registration dossier
Certificate of origin, if any
Product catalogue, if any

Among the above documents, a complete Freezer Import dossier must mandatory include: Customs declaration, bill of lading, commercial invoice, quality inspection dossier, and energy labeling dossier. Other documents can be supplemented when customs authorities request more during the procedure.

Particularly, the certificate of origin (C/O), although not a mandatory document in the customs dossier, plays an important role if the enterprise wants to enjoy special preferential import tax rates, which in many cases can be reduced to 0%.

5. Freezer Import Process

The procedure for Freezer Import and other items is clearly regulated in Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC dated March 25, 2015, of the Ministry of Finance, amended and supplemented by Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC dated April 20, 2018. Below are the basic steps for enterprises to visualize the overall process:

Step 1: Registration for Quality Inspection

For the Freezer Import procedure into Vietnam to take place quickly and easily, enterprises need to perform mandatory product quality inspection according to Decision 2711/QĐ-BKHCN issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology on December 30, 2022, regarding the announcement of group 2 products and goods under the management responsibility of the Ministry of Science and Technology. This inspection registration process is performed via the National Single Window Portal as follows:

Step 1: To create an account and register the dossier, enterprises need to access the website vnsw.gov.vn and proceed with account registration.
Step 2: After approval (usually within 24 hours), the enterprise can begin submitting the quality inspection dossier.

The choice of sample testing unit must be an organization licensed by the Ministry of Science and Technology to receive and process dossiers.

After completing the customs declaration for the Freezer Import procedure, you will register for quality inspection at designated Testing Laboratories.

Step 2: Opening the Declaration

Opening the declaration should be done as soon as possible, no later than 15 days from the date of customs declaration. If not performed within this time, the declaration will be canceled and the enterprise will face fines from customs.

Once you have full customs documents such as contracts, commercial invoices, packing lists, bills of lading, freezer certificates of origin (C/O), and arrival notices, you need to enter the information into the customs system via declaration software.

Note that declaring the customs declaration requires the enterprise to have solid knowledge of the software system. If you are not familiar with the process, self-declaration may lead to unfixable errors after submission. This will incur costs and time for correction.

According to regulations, within 30 days from the date the goods arrive at the port, the customs declarant must complete the declaration. If this deadline is exceeded, fines may be imposed according to customs regulations.

After finishing the declaration, the customs system will classify the declaration. Enterprises need to bring the dossier to the Customs Branch to open the declaration. Depending on the classification (green, yellow, red), the next steps will differ.

After completing the customs declaration, enterprises can register for imported goods quality inspection for freezers. At this time, you will register to check conformity with technical regulations and standards.

Step 3: Testing & Conformity Certification

After registering for quality inspection, you will submit the Quality Inspection Receipt to proceed with product sample testing at the designated laboratory. The content will include electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing according to Decision 2711/QĐ-BKHCN issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology on December 30, 2022, regarding the announcement of group 2 products and goods under the management responsibility of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

After the successful Freezer Import procedure into the country, enterprises need to conduct electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing and conformity certification for refrigerators and freezers, which is a mandatory step if the enterprise wants to trade the product on the market.

Currently, Phuc Gia Certification Center – under Phuc Gia Laboratory Corporation has been authorized to perform product and goods certification according to national technical regulations QCVN 9:2012/BKHCN and QCVN 19:2019/BKHCN. After the enterprise completes the conformity certification process, the final step is to affix the CR conformity mark on the product.

Testing content includes:

Regarding disturbance limits:

Limit levels of disturbance voltage at the connection point to the power grid;
Disturbance power limits in the frequency range from 30 to 300 MHz;
Limits for discontinuous electromagnetic disturbance.

Applicable standards for testing and the mandatory time to apply QCVN 9 for freezers:

Testing standard: TCVN 7492-1, equivalent to CISPR 14-1;
Mandatory application start time: from June 01, 2014.

Tasks Phuc Gia Laboratory performs for customers:

Free legal procedure consultation: Consulting on regulations and procedures for applying for conformity certification, supporting answers to questions related to testing and legal issues.
Evaluation of the legality of the dossier: A team of experts and lawyers will analyze the dossier and evaluate legal compliance. Phuc Gia also supports translation and notarization of documents if necessary.
Completion of conformity certification procedures.

Dossier for freezer/refrigerator conformity certification that enterprises need to prepare:

Freezer business registration certificate.
Photos of components and overall images of the freezer product.
Statistical documents of main components affecting the electromagnetic disturbance of the freezer.
Official dispatch providing information on the freezer manufacturing factory.
Test Report.

Step 4: Customs Declaration Clearance

After checking the Freezer Import procedure dossier, if everything is valid, the customs officer will approve the declaration and you will pay the import tax.

If everything is correct and complete during the dossier inspection, the declaration may be released, and the goods will be brought to the storage warehouse first. After completing the testing procedures and supplementing necessary documents, customs will issue a decision to clear the goods. This is an important step for the product to be approved and put into use.

In case you fail to supplement the dossier or perform clearance procedures on time, you will face fines from customs and lose more time for rectification.

Step 5: Bringing Goods to the Warehouse

Once the declaration is cleared, you can perform declaration liquidation and complete necessary procedures to bring the goods to the warehouse. The Freezer Import process will be completed when combined with the quality inspection process.

6. What to Note When Performing Freezer Import Procedures?

In the process of performing Freezer Import procedures for customers, Phuc Gia has drawn some important notes that we want to share for your reference.

When performing Freezer Import procedures, you should note the following points:

Goods are only cleared when tax obligations to the State are completed.
According to Section II, Appendix I issued with Decree 69/2018/NĐ-CP guiding the Law on Foreign Trade Management dated May 15, 2018, used electronic and refrigeration goods, including used freezers, belong to the list of goods prohibited from import.
Freezers must undergo quality inspection and energy labeling when performing import procedures.
Components and spare parts of freezers do not require quality inspection and energy labeling upon import.
Freezers intended for sale on the market must have an energy label affixed to the product.
According to Article 4, Circular 36/2016/TT-BCT regulating energy labeling for energy-using vehicles and equipment under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued on December 28, 2016, the validity of testing results for energy labeling for a product sample is indefinite, unless that product has improvements or changes in performance or capacity.

We hope that with the detailed instructions in this article, you will have a clear view and the best preparation for performing Freezer Import procedures. If you have a need for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and energy efficiency testing to circulate your products on the market after import, please contact Phuc Gia for further information and support.

For more details, please contact us at:

PHUC GIA LABORATORY CORPORATION

PHUC GIA CERTIFICATION CENTER

PHUC GIA INSPECTION TESTING CENTER

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