Decree 239/2026/ND-CP amend Decree 81/2018/ND-CP on trade promotion provisions

DECREE

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP dated May 22, 2018, detailing the Commercial Law’s provisions on trade promotion, amended and supplemented under the Government's Decree 128/2024/ND-CP dated October 10, 2024

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government No. 63/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of Local Administration No. 72/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the Commercial Law No. 36/2005/QH11;

At the proposal of the Minister of Industry and Trade;

The Government hereby promulgates the Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP dated May 22, 2018, detailing the Commercial Law’s provisions on trade promotion, amended and supplemented under the Government's Decree 128/2024/ND-CP dated October 10, 2024.

Article 1. To amend and supplement Article 5 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP

“Article 5. Promoted and promotional goods and services

Promoted or promotional goods and services must comply with the Commercial Law and the following specific provisions:

1. Promoted and promotional goods and services must not include alcohol, lottery, cigarettes, breast milk substitutes, prescription drugs (except sales promotion for medicine traders), medical examination and treatment services provided by public health facilities, education services provided by public facilities or public vocational education facilities, goods and services banned from sale in Vietnam, and other goods and services prohibited from sales promotion as prescribed in Article 100 of the Commercial Law.

2. Money may be used as promotional goods or services, except sales promotion cases specified in Articles 8, 10 and 11 of this Decree.”.

Article 2. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 11 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP

“1. Goods or service coupons given by traders together with goods sold or services provided are those used for purchasing goods or receiving services from such traders or other traders and organizations. The issuing trader or organization and the trader using goods coupons or service coupons for sales promotion under this Article shall bear full responsibility for, and comply with, the laws on anti-money laundering.”.

Article 3. To amend and supplement Clauses 1 and 5, Article 13 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP

1. To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. The determination of prize winners of a luck-based sale promotion program shall be organized publicly according to announced rules, witnessed directly or online by customers and recorded in writing.”.

2. To amend and supplement Clause 5 as follows:

“5. A prize without the winner of a luck-based sales promotion program referred to in Clause 4 in this Article is the remaining prize upon expiry of the prize-awarding period, except where prizes are awarded after the expiry of such period due to force majeure events or objective impediments as prescribed by law.”.

Article 4. To amend and supplement Clauses 1, 2 and 3, Article 17 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP, amended and supplemented under Clause 3, Article 1 of Decree No. 128/2024/ND-CP

1. To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Traders shall carry out the administrative procedure of notifying sales promotion to all provincial-level Departments of Industry and Trade of the places where they intend to implement the sales promotion program before implementing the program in the forms prescribed in Article 12, except for the cases specified at Points b and c, Clause 2 of this Article. The notification dossier shall be sent to the provincial-level Departments of Industry and Trade at least 3 working days before the sales promotion program is implemented (according to the receipt date written on the delivery note or a form of equivalent validity if the dossier is sent via postal service, or according to the time recorded in the email system or the date recorded in the system if the dossier is sent via the National Public Service Portal).”.

2. To amend Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Traders are not required to carry out the administrative procedure of notifying sales promotion if:

a) Implementing sales promotion in the forms prescribed in Clause 8, Article 92 of the Commercial Law, and Articles 8, 9, 10, 11 and 14 of this Decree;

b) Implementing sales promotion in the form prescribed in Article 12 of this Decree in which the total value of prizes or gifts is less than VND 100 million;

c) Only implementing sales promotion programs in the form of sales promotion prescribed in Article 12 of this Decree for goods or services sold or provided through e-commerce exchanges, e-commerce exchange applications, online promotional websites, and online promotional applications.”.

3. To amend Clause 3 as follows:

“3. Traders may choose one of the following forms of notification:

a) Through the public postal service, via services provided by enterprises or individuals, or through authorization in accordance with law;

b) Online through the National Public Service Portal.”.

Article 5. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 18 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP

“2. Traders may choose one of the following forms of notification:

a) Through the public postal service, via services provided by enterprises or individuals, or through authorization in accordance with law;

b) Online through the National Public Service Portal.”.

Article 6. To amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 19 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP

“3. Traders may choose one of the following forms of registration:

a) Through the public postal service, via services provided by enterprises or individuals, or through authorization in accordance with law;

b) Online through the National Public Service Portal.”.

Article 7. To amend and supplement Clauses 2 and 3, Article 20 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP

1. To amend Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Traders may choose one of the following forms of registration:

a) Through the public postal service, via services provided by enterprises or individuals, or through authorization in accordance with law;

b) Online through the National Public Service Portal.”.

2. To amend Clause 3 as follows:

“Within 4 working days from the date of receiving a dossier (according to the receipt date written on the delivery note or document of equivalent validity if such dossier is sent via postal service, or according to the date recorded in the system if the dossier is sent via the National Public Service Portal), the competent state management agency in charge of trade shall consider and reply whether to certify the registration of changes in the sales promotion program to the trader; in case of refusing to certify, it shall clearly state the reason as prescribed by law.”.

Article 8. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 2, Clause 3, Clause 7, Clause 8 and Clause 9, Article 29 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP

1. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 2 as follows:

“b) Provincial-level People’s Committees, for trade fairs and exhibitions organized overseas.”.

2. To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. Traders may choose one of the following forms of registration:

a) Through the public postal service, via services provided by enterprises or individuals, or through authorization in accordance with law;

b) Online through the National Public Service Portal.”.

3. To amend and supplement Clause 7 as follows:

“7. Within 5 working days after receiving a complete dossier, the competent state management agency shall reply in writing whether to certify the registration of organization of the trade fair or exhibition; in case of refusal, it shall clearly state the reason. Contents of certification or refusal of certification of the registration must comply with Form No. 11 or Form No. 12 in the Appendix to this Decree. The competent state management agency shall send an electronic copy of the written certification of registration of organization of an overseas trade fair or exhibition to the Customs Department, the Immigration Department, the local police office, and the diplomatic representative missions of Vietnam in the country where the trade fair or exhibition is organized.”.

4. To amend and supplement Clause 8 as follows:

“8. For the case in which two or more traders or organizations engaged in trade-related activities register the organization of trade fairs or exhibitions with the same name and theme as well as time and place, competent state management agencies shall hold a negotiation to select traders or organizations engaged in trade-related activities to organize such trade fair or exhibition.”.

5. To amend and supplement Clause 9 as follows:

“9. If the negotiation fails, competent state management agencies may decide to grant a certificate of registration of organization of the trade fair or exhibition to one trader or organization engaged in trade-related activities based on the following grounds:

a) The results of similar trade fairs and exhibitions already organized;

b) The capacity to organize trade fairs and exhibitions;

c) Experiences in organizing trade fairs and exhibitions with the same name and theme or similar trade fairs and exhibitions;

d) Evaluations of relevant trade associations.”.

Article 9. To amend and supplement Clauses 2 and 3, Article 30 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP

1. To amend and supplement Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Traders may choose one of the following forms for registering changes:

a) Through the public postal service, via services provided by enterprises or individuals, or through authorization in accordance with law;

b) Online through the National Public Service Portal.”.

2. To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. Within 5 working days after receiving a complete dossier, the competent state management agency may certify or refuse to certify the changes in the trade fair or exhibition; in case of refusal, it shall clearly state the reason. Contents of certification or refusal of certification must comply with Form No. 11 or Form No. 12 in the Appendix to this Decree.”.

Article 10. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 1 and Point b, Clause 4, Article 32 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP

1. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 1 as follows:

“Conducting specialized inspections, and supervising the compliance with the law on trade promotion by traders and organizations engaged in trade-related activities and sanctioning administrative violations committed by such traders and organizations in accordance with law; prescribing in detail the maximum value of promotional goods or services and the maximum discount rate for promoted goods or services that traders may apply in sales promotion activities;”.

2. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 4 as follows:

“b) Inspecting, examining and supervising the compliance with the law on trade promotion by traders and organizations engaged in trade-related activities and sanctioning administrative violations committed by such traders and organizations in accordance with law; strictly handling violations involving sales promotion in the form of discounts in the course of performing assigned duties, upon detection, and upon receipt of reports or complaints;”.

Article 11. To repeal, and replace a number of provisions of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP, amended and supplemented under the Government's Decree No. 128/2024/ND-CP dated October 10, 2024

1. To repeal Article 6 and Article 7 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP, which was amended and supplemented under Points a and b, Clause 1, Clause 2, Article 1 of Decree No. 128/2024/ND-CP.

2. To repeal Clause 5, Article 10; and Point c, Clause 4, Article 19 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP.

3. To replace Forms No. 03, No. 08, No. 11, No. 12, No. 13 and No. 14 in the Appendix to Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP, which was amended and supplemented under the Government's Decree No. 128/2024/ND-CP dated October 10, 2024.

Article 12. Effect

1. This Decree takes effect from the date of its signing for promulgation.

2. Article 14, Section 2, Chapter IV of the Government's Decree No. 146/2025/ND-CP dated June 20, 2025, providing for decentralization and delegation of authority in the field of industry and trade, is hereby repealed.

3. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and cities, and related agencies, organizations and individuals shall implement this Decree.

Article 13. Transitional provisions

1. Valid dossiers submitted before the effective date of this Decree shall continue to follow the order and procedures specified in the Government's Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP dated May 22, 2018, detailing the Commercial Law’s provisions on trade promotion, which was amended and supplemented under the Government's Decree No. 128/2024/ND-CP dated October 10, 2024, and Resolution No. 19/2026/NQ-CP dated April 29, 2026, on reduction, decentralization, and simplification of administrative procedures and business conditions under the Ministry of Industry and Trade's management. Administrative procedure dossiers submitted from the effective date of this Decree shall follow the order and procedures specified in this Decree.

2. For prizes without the winner of a luck-based sales promotion programs specified in Article 13 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP for which the registration for implementation of the sales promotion program was certified by the competent state management agency before the effective date of this Decree, the provisions of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP shall prevail. For prizes without the winner of a luck-based sales promotion programs specified in Article 13 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP for which the registration for implementation of the sales promotion program was certified by the competent state management agency after the effective date of this Decree, the provisions of this Decree shall prevail.