Law on Access to Information No. 01/2026/QH16
RegHub explainer by New MarketerLast updated:
Based on:01/2026/QH16 - Government Official Gazette
This explanation was generated by AI and checked by an automated AI review, not by a human expert. It is not legal, tax or accounting advice and may contain errors. Check the official document before you rely on it.
On 23 April 2026, the 16th National Assembly passed the Law on Access to Information No. 01/2026/QH16, replacing the 2016 Access to Information Law (No. 104/2016/QH13). The new law takes effect on 1 September 2026. It sets out citizens' right to access information created or held by state agencies and public service units, and the corresponding disclosure obligations of those bodies. For businesses, a few points matter. First, a company's trade secrets can only be released to a third-party requester with the owner's consent, unless the head of the relevant agency decides disclosure is necessary for public interest or public health. Second, the law requires state agencies to proactively publish information useful for due diligence and compliance, including land-use planning, public investment and procurement results, and administrative penalties for tax, intellectual property, environmental, labor, and social insurance violations. Third, foreign nationals residing in Vietnam, including staff of foreign-invested enterprises, have the right to request information directly related to their own rights and obligations. The law does not itself set VAT, corporate income tax, e-invoice, labor, or customs rules; it is a general framework governing transparency of state-held information. Business owners and accountants should be aware of it mainly for two reasons: protecting their own trade secrets when a third party requests access to information a state agency holds about them, and using the public-disclosure and request channels it creates to check planning, procurement, and enforcement records relevant to compliance or partner due diligence.
Law on Access to Information No. 01/2026/QH16
Passed by the 16th National Assembly on 23 April 2026, promulgated by Order No. 01/2026/L-CTN dated 26 April 2026, and published in Official Gazette No. 284 on 26 May 2026. The law replaces the 2016 Access to Information Law (No. 104/2016/QH13) and takes effect on 1 September 2026.
Chapter I - General Provisions
- Scope: citizens' right to access information created or held by state agencies and public service units that provide basic, essential public services; the responsibility of those bodies to guarantee that right.
- Principles: equality and non-discrimination, with support for people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and residents of border, island, mountainous, and disadvantaged areas; information provided must be accurate and complete and follow proper procedure, and increasingly be delivered digitally; access may only be restricted where a law requires it, for reasons of national defense, security, order, social ethics, or public health.
- Prohibited acts: deliberately providing false, incomplete, or delayed information; destroying or falsifying information; using information against the State or to defame others or infringe their lawful rights; obstructing or intimidating requesters or providers; unlawfully disclosing private-life, personal, personal-data, family-secret, or trade-secret information.
- Violations: depending on severity, may trigger disciplinary action, administrative penalties, criminal liability, or a duty to compensate for damage caused.
Chapter II - Citizens' Rights/Obligations and Agency Responsibilities
- Citizens (including those with restricted civil capacity acting through a legal representative, and minors) have the right to accurate, timely information and the right to complain, denounce, or sue; they must comply with the law, must not distort information provided to them, and must not infringe others' lawful rights.
- Two access methods: freely accessing already-published information, or requesting information from the responsible agency.
- The law designates the responsible office at each level (the National Assembly Office, the President's Office, the Government Office, provincial National Assembly Delegation/People's Council offices, provincial/commune focal units, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Public Security).
- Agencies must invest in IT infrastructure, connect their portals, maintain searchable databases, and screen information for confidentiality before disclosure. The National Assembly, People's Councils, and the Fatherland Front oversee implementation; citizens may complain, denounce, or sue under relevant law.
Chapter III - Disclosure and Provision of Information on Request
Scope of accessible information (Section 1)
- Not accessible: state secrets (until declassified); private life, personal secrets, family secrets, and personal data; trade secrets; information that would endanger defense, security, order, social ethics, public health, or others' lawful rights or property; work secrets; internal meeting records and internal working documents.
- Conditionally accessible: private-life/family-secret information with the consent of those concerned; trade secrets with the consent of the owner; archival records per archive law. Agency heads may authorize disclosure without consent where necessary for public interest or public health.
Proactive disclosure (Section 2)
- A broad mandatory-disclosure list, including: socio-economic development strategies and plans; laws and draft legislation; the state budget and information on taxes, fees, and charges; public investment, procurement, and bidding results; state assets and state capital management at enterprises; inspection conclusions and anti-corruption/anti-waste reports; administrative penalties for tax, securities, intellectual property, social insurance, health insurance, environmental, and labor violations with significant impact; land-use and housing planning; environment, health, and education data; digital transformation plans.
- Disclosure channels: agency portals/websites, mass media, the Official Gazette, public postings, press conferences. Timing follows sector-specific law, or otherwise within 5 working days of the information being created. Incorrect published information must be promptly corrected; citizens may petition for correction and agencies must respond within 10 days.
Information provided on request (Section 3)
- Covers: information that should be public but is not yet, or is no longer, published, or is temporarily inaccessible due to force majeure; conditionally accessible information meeting the required conditions; information directly related to the requester's own life, activities, or business.
- Requests may be submitted in person, by post, or online, including via the National Public Service Portal. No fee is charged to citizens, only actual reproduction/delivery costs, which are waived for in-person or online requests.
- Processing time: within 12 days of a valid request, extendable by up to 12 more days with written notice.
- Agencies may refuse where: the information is in the non-accessible or unmet-condition category; it is already published; it falls outside the agency's responsibility; it has already been provided twice to the same requester without good reason; it exceeds the agency's capacity to fulfill; or the requester has not paid the actual reproduction cost.
Chapter IV - Implementation Provisions
- Effective date: 1 September 2026; the 2016 Access to Information Law (No. 104/2016/QH13) is repealed from the same date, except for its transitional provision on pending requests.
- Foreign nationals residing in Vietnam may request information directly related to their own rights and obligations.
- Citizens may request information through an organization, association, or enterprise when multiple members have the same request.
- Transitional rule: mandatory-disclosure information created or held before the effective date, not previously required to be published under the 2016 law, must be published within 6 months of this law taking effect; requests submitted before the effective date but not yet resolved continue to be processed under the 2016 law.
Signed and promulgated by National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man.