THE MINISTER OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To issue together with this Decision the Regulation on Selection for the Quality Award.

This Regulation shall apply to the selection of, and conferment of the Quality Award to, enterprises participating in the Quality Award contest as from 2001.

Article 2.- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its signing and replaces Decision No. 716/1998/QD-BKHCNMT of June 8, 1998 of the Minister of Science, Technology and Environment issuing the Regulation on Selection for the Quality Award.

Article 3.- The general director of the General Department of Standardization, Measurement and Quality Control, the director of the Ministry�s Office, the directors of the Science, Technology and Environment Services of the provinces and centrally-run cities as well as concerned agencies shall have to popularize and organize the implementation of this Decision.

For the Minister of Science, Technology and Environment
Vice Minister
BUI MANH HAI

Article 1.- The Quality Award shall be considered and conferred annually to enterprises which have made outstanding achievements in the elaboration and application of the standard system based on the criteria of the Quality Award and fall into the following forms of enterprise:

1. Large manufacturing enterprises.

2. Medium- and small-sized manufacturing enterprises.

3. Large service enterprises.

4. Medium- and small-sized service enterprises.

Article 2.- The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment shall decide on the conferment of the Quality Award to enterprises at the proposals of the National Council for the Quality Award and the general director of the General Department of Standardization, Measurement and Quality Control. The number of awards to be conferred to enterprises in each province or centrally-run city shall be in proportion to the economic growth and the quality movement of such province or city.

Annually, according to the evaluation and selection of the National Council for the Quality Award, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment shall propose the Prime Minister to award merit certificates to a maximum of four most excellent enterprises falling in the above four enterprise forms.

Article 3.- The selection for the Quality Award shall be carried out at two levels: Preliminary selection (in provinces and cities) and final selection. The operations of the Councils for Selection for the Quality Awards at these levels are specified in Chapter III of this Regulation.

Article 4.- Only those enterprises that have registered for participating in the Quality Award contest under the provisions of this Regulation shall be considered and selected. Enterprises already conferred the Quality Award may join the contests in subsequent years. Particularly, enterprises which are conferred merit certificates by the Prime Minister may only join the contest three years later.

Chapter II

CRITERIA FOR QUALITY AWARD CONSIDERATION AND CONFERMENT

Article 5.- The evaluation, consideration and conferment of the Quality Award shall be based on the practical quality management activities and the attained effectiveness of enterprises participating in the contest against the following seven criteria:

1. Leadership role;

2. Strategy determination;

3. Customer and market orientations;

4. Information and analysis;

5. Human resource development;

6. Management of operational processes;

7. Business results.

Each type of subjects participating in the contest shall be assessed against the above criteria and scored by specialists. The total score for all criteria is 1,000. Enterprises which are considered and conferred the Quality Award must achieve a score of 600 or higher. The General Department of Standardization, Measurement and Quality Control shall specify and guide the contents of the above criteria together with the score levels for each criterion content.

Chapter III

COUNCILS FOR QUALITY AWARD CONSIDERATION AND SELECTION

Article 6.- The National Council for the Quality Award (hereinafter called the Council for short) shall be set up by decision of the Minister of Science, Technology and Environment at the proposal of the general director of the General Department of Standardization, Measurement and Quality Control. The Council shall be composed of from 9 to 11 members who are representatives of the agencies attached to the concerned ministries and branches. It shall have a chairman, a vice chairman and members.

Article 7.- The National Council for the Quality Award is a final selection council tasked to consider and propose the conferment of the Quality Award to those qualified enterprises among the enterprises proposed by the Preliminary Selection Councils for conferment of the award, and evaluate and select the most excellent enterprises and propose the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment to submit their cases to the Prime Minister to award them merit certificates.

Article 8.- The Council chairman shall preside over meetings of the Council. Where he/she is absent, the vice chairman shall preside over the Council�s meetings on his/her behalf. The Council shall work on the principle of discussion and consensus among the Council members who are present at the meetings. The Council�s resolutions shall be binding only if at least two thirds of the members are present at the meeting.

Article 9.- The General Department of Standardization, Measurement and Quality Control is the standing body of the Council and has the following tasks:

- Providing guidance on the Quality Award criteria and the selection for the Quality Award at different levels;

- Organizing the training and fostering for enterprises participating in the Quality Award contest and specialists involved in the Quality Award evaluation;

- Functioning as a secretariat for the Council;

- Creating material conditions for the Council�s operation.

Article 10.- The provincial/municipal Preliminary Selection Councils shall be composed of from 5 to 7 members each, some of whom are representatives of the provincial/municipal Science, Technology and Environment Services and concerned branches. The members of such a Council shall be specialists who are knowledgeable in the quality domain and firmly grasp the Quality Award requirements.

The general director of the General Department of Standardization, Measurement and Quality Control shall issue decisions to set up the Preliminary Selection Councils at the proposals of the directors of the provincial/municipal Science, Technology and Environment Services. The provincial/municipal Sub-Departments of Standardization, Measurement and Quality Control shall function as secretariats for the Preliminary Selection Councils.

Article 11.- The Preliminary Selection Councils shall consider, evaluate and select enterprises which have made remarkable achievements, representing the forms of enterprise mentioned in Article 1 of this Regulation among the participating enterprises and propose the conferment of the Quality Award thereto according to the prescribed procedures. The operation principles of the Preliminary Selection Councils shall comply with the provisions of Article 8 of this Regulation.

The provincial/municipal Science, Technology and Environment Services shall have to create material conditions for the operation of the Preliminary Selection Councils.

Chapter IV

PARTICIPATION REGISTRATION PROCEDURES AND ORDER OF SELECTION FOR THE QUALITY AWARD

Article 12.- Enterprises that wish to join the Quality Award contest must compile a dossier which includes:

- Registration for participating in the Quality Award contest;

- The enterprise�s general operation report;

- The self-evaluation report according to the Quality Award criteria;

- A copy of the decision approving the environmental impact assessment report.

Dossiers for participating in the Quality Award contest shall be submitted to the Secretariats of the Preliminary Selection Councils of the provinces and cities where the enterprises are located within the prescribed time limit.

Article 13.- At the preliminary selection level, the evaluation and selection shall be carried out in two rounds:

- Round 1: The evaluation shall be made by at least three evaluating specialists (who may concurrently be members of the Preliminary Selection Councils) on the basis of the participating enterprises� reports. The Preliminary Selection Councils shall consider and examine the specialists� evaluation results and select out enterprises which are qualified for round 2.

- Round 2: The Councils shall send their specialists to visit the enterprises selected from round 1 for field consideration and evaluation. On the basis of the actual results, the Councils shall resolute on enterprises to be proposed for conferment of the Award, which have obtained the highest total scores of 600 points or above for each form of enterprise among the participating enterprises.

Article 14.- The Secretariats of the Preliminary Selection Councils shall send records on the Councils� written conclusions together with the Quality Award contest- participation dossiers of the enterprises which are proposed for conferment of the Award to the General Department of Standardization, Measurement and Quality Control, including:

- Registration for participating in the Quality Award contest;

- The enterprise�s general operation report;

- The enterprise�s self-evaluation report;

- The evaluation report unanimously agreed upon by the evaluating specialists together with the overall score sheet and the score sheet of each evaluating specialist.

- The field evaluation report.

Article 15.- The Final Selection Council shall evaluate and select enterprises proposed for conferment of the Award through considering the evaluation dossiers and written proposals of the Preliminary Selection Councils. In cases of necessity, it may send specialists to consider the evaluation results at the concerned enterprises so as to collect additional information necessary for the selection.

Basing itself on the concrete results for each form of enterprise, the Final Selection Council shall vote to pass the list of enterprises proposed to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment for the conferment of the Quality Award and evaluate and select the most excellent enterprises proposed to the Prime Minister for the award of merit certificates.

Chapter V

OTHER PROVISIONS

Article 16.- The funding for organizing the annual Quality Award contests shall be partly contributed by the participating enterprises and partly allocated from the State budget to the General Department of Standardization, Measurement and Quality Control.

Fifty percent of the contributions from enterprises shall be spent on the Preliminary Selection Councils� activities and the other fifty percent on the Final Selection Council�s activities.

Article 17.- The General Department of Standardization, Measurement and Quality Control shall organize solemn ceremonies to confer the annual Quality Awards to the qualified enterprises.

For the Minister of Science, Technology and Environment
Vice Minister
BUI MANH HAI