Name of recommendations: Recommendations on developinga system and legal basis for regulatingpetroleum business on automatic petrol selling equipment.

Status: Responded

Recommended by units: TheKorea Trade and Investment Promotion Agency in Southeast Asia and Oceania - directly under the Korean Embassy (KOTRA)

Official letter: No 2710/ PTM - VP, dated: 2018-10-22

Recommended contents:

Automated petroleum pump produced by the DG Flow Company (headquartered in Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea, Website: www.dgflow.co.kr) and imported by TD OIL Co., Ltd that wascertified and approvd samples by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality andthe Industrial Safety Technologies and Environment Agency for fire safety and industrial environment safety.

However, according to KOTRA's research, currently in Vietnam, the automatic pump station has not been licensed. Specifically, based on the Decree 83/2014 / ND-CP on petroleum trading and according to the Circular 11/2013 / TT-BCT of the Ministry of Industry and Trade: Promulgating national technical regulations on door design requirements petroleum products, there are specific regulations on petroleum tanks, petrol pumps, electrical systems, fire protection equipment, ... Petroleum stores must be designed and built according to regulations of this circular, under the guidance and inspection of the Department of Industry and Trade of provinces and cities, Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The above Circular was developed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade based on the document TCVN 4530: 2011 regulating the design requirements of petroleum stores of the Technical Sub-Committee of the National Standard TCVN / TC98 / SC4,proposed by establishment for designing and constructing petroleum projects - oil and gas, announced by The Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality and announced by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The Decree 83 stipulates the conditions for opening petroleum retail stores, in which Article 24 stipulates that the location must be consistent with the planning approved by the competent authorities. Stores must be owned or co-owned by traders (agents / general agents / franchisors or traders with distribution systems). In addition, the store must be designed, built and equipped with the right equipment in accordance with the current regulations on petrol and oil retail shops, fire safety, fire protection and environmental protection of authorities, managers and employees who are trained and certified for fire prevention, fire protection and environmental protection operations. If the application is sufficient, the licensing in the Department of Industry and Trade takes place in the localities maximally within 20-30 days.

However, in fact, this is not so easy. There must be nearly 30 papers of all kinds in the form of approval / certification / confirmation, so petrol businessesare able to have new gas stations. For example, there must be a written approval of the locations of the People's Committee of the commune or district; certificates of satisfaction of fire prevention and fighting conditions, granted by fire prevention and fighting police agencies; certification of environmental standards issued by the District People's Committee and many other specialized procedures. That is the reason that it takes two years to start a new gas station. In Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, due to urban safety requirements, new open gas stations have gradually approached to suburbs and newly developed areas.

With the same mode of operation as vending machines, fully meeting the standards of fire safety, ensuring the accuracy in measuring gasoline for customers, ensuring the quality of gasoline is convenient, to be easy to install and simple to use, automated oil pump cylinders have been serving people in neighboring countries such as Thailand, Myanmar and the Philippines, which have the quantity users of motor vehicles that are quite large as similar to Vietnam.

Countries with Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Myanmar, and the Philippines have recognized the shortcomings of filling up fuel by people who use motor vehicles in petrol stores in accordance with standards. for cars, especially for people in rural, mountainous and remote areas when gas station density is not much.

In particular, Thailand has changed its policy for 10 years and since then the number of installed automated pump cylinders has reached more than 50,000. Petrol pumps are currently operating safely on fire and explosion prevention, as evidenced by over 10 years with more than 50,000 pillars but no fire has yet occurred.

The current situation is that petrol and oil stores meet the standards and are granted uneven distribution, mainly concentrated in urban areas, where the population is crowded. Although in rural, mountainous and remote areas, people still have a large demand for petrol and oil, however, due to the uneven distribution of petroleum stores, people in these places  that there are still many difficulties and inconveniences in buying and selling petrol. In addition, based on the current Decrees and Circulars, in order to be able to trade in petroleum, business people must own a huge amount of capital to invest in the design of shops and equipment. This is not suitable for investors who want to trade in petrol and oil in rural, mountainous and remote areas, leading to the situation of some individuals and households doing business in petrol and oil. in the form of spontaneous, failing to ensure safety against fire and explosion, causing difficulties in management and causing losses to the State's tax sources.

Therefore, KOTRA would like to recommend: The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the  Ministry of Science and Technology to consider and create conditions for people in rural, mountainous and remote areas to have easy access to petrol. It is safer and more convenient.At the same time, to manage family and household businesses that are trading in spontaneous petroleum throughdeveloping a system and legal basis for regulating the petroleum business on automatic petrol and oil selling equipment. Since then, businesses can deploy petroleum business with automatic petrol pump.