Dental Chairs & Dental Equipment in Vietnam

The declaration of applicable standards and importing into Vietnam

Vietnam manages medical devices under Decree 98/2021 and its amendments, administered by the Ministry of Health's Infrastructure and Medical Device Administration (IMDA). Devices are classed A to D by risk, and the class decides the route: Class A and B devices need a declaration of applicable standards (công bố tiêu chuẩn áp dụng), filed online with the provincial Department of Health and published on the ministry's portal, while Class C and D devices need a registration number for circulation from IMDA. Powered dental chair units are generally treated as Class B under the classification rules, so a chair goes through the declaration route; the applicant classifies the device and carries legal responsibility for it, which your filing agent confirms per model. The receipt number does not expire.

Only a Vietnam-registered company can file — the importer or distributor, authorised by the manufacturer — and it must first have declared its own eligibility to trade Class B to D devices. The manufacturer's part of the file is a valid ISO 13485 certificate, a letter of authorisation, a warranty confirmation, a Certificate of Free Sale, a technical description and instructions for translation into Vietnamese, and label samples. The Free Sale certificate and letter of authorisation have traditionally required consular legalisation; Vietnam joined the Hague Apostille Convention in September 2026, so ask your filing agent which form is accepted for a current filing. We issue the documents against the model numbers on your order.

Customs. A device with a valid declaration or registration number clears customs on that number plus its published classification, with no separate import licence for ordinary commercial imports; the transitional arrangements for older import licences ended on 1 July 2025. Chinese-origin chairs enter at preferential duty under the ASEAN–China agreement when a Form E certificate of origin accompanies the shipment, and medical equipment is in the 5% VAT group under the 2024 VAT law. Your customs agent confirms the tariff line and origin rules before you fix a resale price.

If your clinic is buying one chair, the simplest route is usually through our distributor in Vietnam, who already holds the declarations and imports regularly. Message us and we introduce you.

Power, air and water in a Vietnamese clinic

Vietnam's mains supply is 220 V at 50 Hz — the same as China — with Type A and C sockets and Type B in newer buildings. The standard 220 V / 50 Hz version of our chairs and compressors is the right one; tell us your socket type and it is confirmed on the proforma invoice. Supply has been stable through 2026, with the northern dry-season peaks of April to July the period to watch. Practical points:

• A stabiliser or UPS on the chair's control unit is cheap insurance against surges when a building's supply switches or a generator cuts in.
• Size any backup for the compressor. The chair draws little; the compressor decides whether a UPS or small generator copes. Ask us for its running and starting current.
• Oil-free compressors suit the climate — no oil changes — and a dryer keeps handpiece air dry in year-round humidity.

Water: the dental unit runs on filtered water or a bottle-fed system; the autoclave on distilled water — a 4-litre distiller covers a single-chair practice.

Delivery from Foshan to Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang

Vietnam is the closest market we serve. By sea, containers from Shenzhen or Guangzhou (Nansha) reach Ho Chi Minh City (Cat Lai, or the Cai Mep deep-water terminals) in about 5–7 days port to port, Hai Phong in 3–5 days and Da Nang in 4–6. By road, a truck from Guangdong crosses at the Pingxiang–Huu Nghi border in Lang Son and reaches Hanoi in about two days; a dedicated freight lane at the crossing opened in 2024. For northern Vietnam the road option often beats sea freight door to door; for the south, sea freight to Cat Lai is the usual choice.

A single chair or a small first order goes as LCL (shared container) or by truck; a first order for resale is usually a 20 ft container. The packing data we send with every quotation lists how many chairs and equipment combinations fit in a 20 ft and a 40 ft container. Small items — handpieces, curing lights, cameras — arrive within days either way.

We quote FOB Guangzhou or Shenzhen for dealers with their own forwarder, or delivered to the Vietnamese port or border when you prefer one price that includes the freight. Payment is by T/T or L/C; lead time is confirmed on the proforma invoice and sample units ship first.

Buying as a clinic or as a dealer

Clinics. Yes, we sell single units directly — one chair for a new practice, a second chair for a growing clinic, or a replacement for an old unit. In Vietnam we will usually introduce you to our distributor, who holds the declarations and installs; where you prefer to import through your own company, we support your technician by video during the first installation and supply the documents for your declaration.

Dealers. Vietnamese dealers work with us under the distributor programme: factory-direct pricing tiered by quantity, the declaration document pack, marketing files, remote technical training and a spare-parts kit with the first container. Territory exclusivity is discussed once a partner meets an annual commitment. Most partnerships begin with a trial of one to a few units, then a first container once the chairs are declared and installed — and with a sea leg of under a week, restocking is quick.