Knowledge base

On May 5, 2026, Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Circular 24/2026/TT-BCT, setting out the Rules of Origin that implement the Vietnam-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), signed October 28, 2024. Goods qualify as originating either by being wholly obtained in a member country (grown, raised, mined, etc. entirely within Vietnam or the UAE) or by undergoing sufficient working or processing, meaning a change in tariff classification at the 4-digit heading level (CTH) or a regional value content (QVC) of at least 35% of the ex-factory price. A 20% de minimis tolerance applies to non-originating materials that fail the tariff-shift test. Businesses trading between Vietnam and the UAE can prove origin to claim preferential tariffs through three channels: a UAE-VN Certificate of Origin (C/O) issued by the Import-Export Department or provincial People's Committees, a self-issued certification by an approved exporter, or a self-declaration for shipments valued at 500 USD or less. Certificates are valid for one year and must be submitted to customs within that period. The Circular also covers retroactive (back-dated) C/O issuance, replacement of lost or damaged certificates, tolerance for minor discrepancies, and an origin-verification process that gives the exporting country's authority up to six months to respond to a customs inquiry from the importing country. The Circular takes effect May 5, 2026, but applies retroactively: authorities may issue back-dated C/O for Vietnamese exports shipped from February 3, 2026, and customs will accept origin certificates for import declarations registered from that same date. This means businesses that already traded with the UAE in this window can still claim preferential tariff treatment. Exporters and importers dealing with the UAE, particularly SMEs and foreign-invested businesses building Middle East supply chains, should review their origin documentation now to take advantage of CEPA preferences.

Decree 143/2026/ND-CP, issued by the Government on 5 May 2026, sets out Vietnam's Special Preferential Import Tariff Schedule to implement the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the 2026-2027 period. The decree assigns preferential CEPA tariff rates to imported goods by 8-digit HS code, with two rate tiers: one for 2026 and a generally lower one for 2027. To qualify for the CEPA preferential rate, imported goods must meet three conditions: (1) be listed in the special preferential tariff schedule attached to the decree, (2) be imported directly from the UAE into Vietnam, and (3) be accompanied by a certificate of origin that satisfies the CEPA's rules of origin and current Vietnamese law. Goods moving from Vietnam's non-tariff zones into the domestic market must also satisfy conditions (1) and (3), without needing the direct-import-from-UAE condition. The decree takes effect from its signing date (5 May 2026) through 31 December 2027, but includes an important retroactive provision: for customs declarations registered between 3 February 2026 (when the CEPA itself took effect) and the decree's effective date, if the goods met the preferential conditions but importers paid duty at a higher rate, customs authorities will process a refund of the overpaid tax under tax administration rules. Businesses importing from the UAE should review customs declarations from this window to claim any eligible refunds.

The Government issued Resolution 25/2026/NQ-CP on 30 April 2026, effective 1 May 2026 to 30 June 2026, extending the application of Decree 72/2026/ND-CP (9 March 2026), which reduced preferential import duty rates on petroleum products and certain petroleum feedstocks. Specifically, the preferential (MFN) import duty rate on the following HS codes is maintained at **0%** until 30 June 2026: stripped crude distillates (HS 2710.19.20), other medium oils and preparations (HS 2710.19.89), and other liquefied petroleum gas (HS 2711.19.00). From 1 July 2026 onward, the standard rates under the preferential tariff schedule attached to Decree 26/2023/ND-CP will resume.

Consolidated Document No. 18/VBHN-BCT, issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, merges Circular No. 49/2025/TT-BCT (dated September 9, 2025) with amendments in Circular No. 12/2026/TT-BCT (dated March 9, 2026) into a single, unified statement of the Rules of Origin under the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA). It takes effect on May 1, 2026 and applies to Certificate of Origin (C/O) issuing bodies, import-export traders, and any organization or individual involved in determining the origin of goods traded with Korea. The core content sets out three routes for goods to qualify as AKFTA-originating and receive preferential tariff treatment: (1) wholly obtained goods (grown, raised, or extracted entirely within one member country); (2) meeting a minimum Regional Value Content (RVC) of 40% of FOB value, or a 4-digit tariff classification change (CTH); or (3) satisfying the Product Specific Rules listed by HS code in Appendix I. The circular also sets a 10% de minimis threshold for non-originating materials that fail the CTH test, cumulation rules allowing origin to carry across ASEAN and Korea, and a list of minor processing operations (packaging, labeling, simple assembly, etc.) that do not by themselves confer origin. For import-export businesses, the most operationally important part covers the process for obtaining, verifying, and using Form AK Certificates of Origin: in Vietnam, C/O issuance is handled by the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) and provincial People's Committees; the C/O must be submitted to the importing country's customs within 12 months of issuance; shipments with an FOB value under 200 USD are exempt from submitting a C/O; and the importing country's customs may request a post-issuance verification within 6 months if authenticity is in doubt. Businesses exporting to Korea under AKFTA preferences should review their origin documentation and Form AK C/O application process against this consolidated text starting May 1, 2026.

Circular 12/2026/TT-BCT dated 09/03/2026 (effective 01/05/2026) from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) abolishes 22 legal normative documents in full and partially revokes provisions in 5 additional documents covering electricity, coal, chemicals, food safety, and rules of origin. Fully abolished documents include old regulations on coal stockpile inventory, coal trading conditions, electrical equipment inspection, electricity license procedures, residential electricity purchase contracts, and joint circulars on industry organizational functions and cross-agency enforcement of smuggled goods. Partially revoked provisions relate to updates to delegated authority for issuing certificates of origin and rules of origin under various FTAs. The revocation is part of a systematic legal review under the Law on Promulgation of Legal Normative Documents No. 64/2025/QH15, aimed at reducing administrative burdens and aligning the regulatory framework with newly reorganized government bodies.

Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) has issued Consolidated Circular No. 24/VBHN-BCT (dated March 30, 2026), merging Circular 12/2018/TT-BCT with four subsequent rounds of amendments (2019, 2023, 2025, and 2026) into a single, up-to-date reference. It implements the Law on Foreign Trade Management and Decree 69/2018/ND-CP, sparing import-export businesses from having to cross-check multiple separate circulars. The consolidated text covers four areas: (1) the list of banned used consumer goods, medical devices, and vehicles by HS code; (2) the list of goods temporarily suspended from temporary-import-for-re-export and transshipment trading; (3) application forms, reporting templates, and the licensing agency (MOIT's Import-Export Department) for Certificates of Free Sale (CFS), temporary import-re-export licenses, temporary-import-re-export business codes, and transit permits; and (4) the import tariff-rate quota mechanism covering four goods: refined and raw sugar, salt, raw tobacco material, and poultry eggs. For businesses importing the four tariff-rate-quota goods, the circular sets out the licensing process (dossiers submitted to the Import-Export Department at 54 Hai Ba Trung Street, Hanoi, with a 10-working-day processing window from the date quotas are allocated) and a mandatory quarterly reporting obligation due before the 10th of the first month of the following quarter. The most recent change took effect April 10, 2026 (under Circular 15/2026/TT-BCT), which revised administrative decentralization procedures and replaced several forms. Licenses and certificates issued before each amendment's effective date remain valid through their original expiry.

On March 25, 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Circular No. 15/2026/TT-BCT, amending Circular No. 38/2025/TT-BCT on delegating authority to handle administrative procedures in sectors under the Ministry's management. The Circular takes effect on April 10, 2026. The main changes are: (1) adjusting authority to issue, reissue, and amend industrial explosives licenses for research/testing organizations or companies holding a Group 1 mineral-operation license; (2) adding a new procedure allowing provincial People's Committees to approve safety management documents (safety management program, risk assessment report, emergency response plan) for oil and gas facilities in their locality, with a 20-working-day appraisal period followed by a 5-working-day approval period; (3) reassigning permit authority for transporting dangerous goods: the Chemicals Agency now handles Class 5 and Class 8 goods, while provincial People's Committees handle Class 1 (excluding industrial explosives), 2, 3, 4, and 9; (4) simplifying the cigarette and cigar import reporting procedure by replacing the specific receiving-agency name with the general term «Licensing Agency» and removing the fixed email-submission requirement; (5) updating the province/city codes used for foreign representative offices and branches to follow the current administrative unit list; (6) clarifying a six-step process for provincial People's Committees to conduct legal-knowledge examinations for multi-level marketing. The Circular mainly applies to businesses operating in industrial explosives, oil and gas, dangerous goods transport, tobacco trading, foreign representative offices/branches, and multi-level marketing. Licenses and certificates issued before April 10, 2026 remain valid until their stated expiry, and complete applications submitted before that date continue to be processed under the prior rules. This is a procedural/administrative circular that does not create new tax, accounting, or invoicing obligations, so it has limited direct impact on most small and medium businesses outside the sectors listed above.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Circular No. 07/2026/TT-BCT dated 24 February 2026 amending Circular No. 37/2013/TT-BCT on importing cigarettes and cigars. Only tobacco manufacturing enterprises with 100% state capital, designated by the Ministry, may import cigarettes and cigars under the state-trade mechanism, and they must conduct imports directly without delegating to other traders. The Circular also transfers licensing authority from the Ministry's Import-Export Department to the 'Licensing Authority' (i.e., the provincial People's Committee where the trader is headquartered), reflecting administrative decentralization reforms. Automatic import registration applications must be submitted in person at the provincial People's Committee or via postal or online services. The Circular takes effect from 10 April 2026.

Decree No. 100/2026/ND-CP (issued March 31, 2026) amends Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP, which implements Vietnam's Intellectual Property Law on industrial property, to give effect to changes introduced by Law No. 131/2025/QH15. The most significant new rule addresses ownership of inventions and industrial designs created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI): a protection certificate can only be granted if a human demonstrably made a 'significant contribution,' judged against four specific criteria (defining the problem, selecting the input data, meaningfully refining the AI output, and deciding the final result). If these are not met, the creator retains only a right to use the creation, not exclusive ownership. The decree also introduces a fast-track examination process for patent applications covering strategic technologies or emergency-related inventions, and for trademark applications that are a mandatory condition for obtaining a business license - shortening the wait for protection certificates. In parallel, the Ministry of Science and Technology must build a national industrial property database, a geographical-indication management system, and a database tracking IP transaction values (useful for businesses valuing IP when raising capital or using it as loan collateral), while IP enforcement agencies are directed to invest in automated systems for detecting and acting on online infringement. This decree matters most to technology companies, R&D teams, patent and trademark owners, and foreign investors assessing Vietnam's IP protection framework. Businesses using AI tools in product development should keep records documenting human creative input to preserve their ability to obtain patents later. Note: the source extract used for this article is cut off before the effective-date clause, so the official effective date could not be confirmed here.

The Ministry of Finance issued Circular 39/2026/TT-BTC setting out fee and charge rates for inland waterway ports and wharves (including dedicated ports). Four types of charges apply: vessel tonnage fee at 165 VND per gross ton per inbound or outbound trip; port entry/exit charges ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 VND per trip depending on vessel capacity; inland waterway reporting fee; and maritime safety fee for seagoing vessels. Exemptions cover military and police vessels on duty, customs patrol craft, storm shelter and emergency vessels, cargo craft under 10 tons or passenger craft under 13 seats, and flood-relief transport. Vessels entering without loading/discharging cargo or receiving passengers pay only 70% of the tonnage fee. The circular takes effect on 1 April 2026, replacing Circular 248/2016/TT-BTC. All collected fees are remitted 100% to the state budget.

On March 31, 2026, the Government issued Decree No. 99/2026/ND-CP amending Decree No. 44/2024/ND-CP on the management, use, and exploitation of road transport infrastructure assets (roads, bridges, tunnels, terminals, toll stations, etc.). The main change reorganizes management authority to match Vietnam's new two-tier local government model: road management agencies and asset-management units are now defined at three levels, central (Ministry of Construction), provincial, and commune, replacing the previously abolished district level. The decree revises the asset-handover process and the approval authority for schemes to transfer toll-collection rights, lease exploitation rights, and transfer time-limited exploitation rights over road assets. For businesses seeking to bid on these rights, notable requirements include minimum financial capacity (revenue and pre-tax profit over the two most recent years per audited financial statements), a performance deposit equal to 5% of total contract value or an equivalent bank guarantee, and a claw-back mechanism requiring an extra payment of 50% of any actual exploitation revenue exceeding 125% of the projected baseline. All proceeds from these transactions, net of related costs, must be remitted to the state budget. This is primarily an administrative reorganization of public-asset management authority and the auction/concession process for road infrastructure exploitation rights. It mainly affects state road-management agencies and businesses or investors bidding for toll-collection rights, exploitation rights, or public-private partnership (PPP) transport projects. The decree does not address tax, accounting, e-invoicing, IFRS, labor, or customs matters, so it has little direct impact on most small and medium enterprises, except those installing telecom infrastructure or EV charging stations on road assets, or bidding for exploitation rights.

Circular 31/2026/TT-BTC issued by the Ministry of Finance on March 27, 2026, regulates the decentralization of certain tasks and powers in the field of state management. This document takes effect immediately from its issuance date (March 27, 2026), demonstrating the urgency and importance of these decentralization regulations. This document relates to the reorganization of task assignments and authority among agencies under the Ministry of Finance, which may affect business processes for handling documents and administrative procedures for enterprises. Decentralization can facilitate faster access for businesses to competent local authorities, reducing waiting time and increasing work efficiency. For small and medium-sized enterprises, understanding the competent authorities after decentralization will help optimize compliance processes for tax, customs, accounting, and other financial regulations. Businesses should monitor detailed guidance from local tax and financial authorities to ensure proper procedures are followed with the newly authorized agencies.