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 of May 22, 2018, detailing the Commercial Law’s provisions on trade promotion, which is amended and supplemented by the Government’s Decree No. 128/2024/ND-CP of October 10, 2024^[1]

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

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

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

At the proposal of the Minister of Industry and Trade;

The Government promulgates the Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP of May 22, 2018, detailing the Commercial Law’s provisions on trade promotion, which is amended and supplemented by the Government’s Decree No. 128/2024/ND-CP of 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 and promotional goods and services must comply with the Commercial Law and the following provisions:

1. Promoted and promotional goods and services must not include alcohol, lottery, cigarettes, breast milk substitutes, prescription medication (except sales promotion for drug traders), medical examination and treatment services provided by public health establishments, education services provided by public institutions or public vocational education institutions, goods and services banned from sale in Vietnam, and other goods and services prohibited from sales promotion as specified 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 organisations. Traders and organisations issuing and traders using goods or service coupons for promotion under this Article shall take full responsibility and comply with the anti-money laundering law.”.

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 sales promotion programme shall be organised publicly according to announced rules, with online or offline witness of customers and recorded in a minutes.”.

2. To amend and supplement Clause 5 as follows:

“5. A prize without the winner of a luck-based sales promotion programme referred to in Clause 4 in this Article is the prize remaining at the expiry of the prize-awarding period, except where the prize is awarded after such period due to a force majeure event or an objective obstacle as prescribed by law.”.

Article 4. To amend and supplement Clauses 1, 2 and 3, Article 17 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP, which is 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 activities to all provincial-level Departments of Industry and Trade of localities where they intend to implement their sales promotion programmes before implementing such programmes in the forms specified in Clause 12, except the cases specified in Points b and c, Clause 2 of this Article. A notification dossier shall be sent to the provincial-level Department of Industry and Trade at least 3 working days before the sales promotion programme is implemented (based on the receipt date written on the delivery note or a form of equivalent validity if the dossier is sent by post, or the date recorded in the system if the dossier is sent online via the National Public Service Portal).”.

2. To amend Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Cases not required the performance of administrative procedures of notifying sales promotion

a/ Conducting sales promotion in the forms specified in Clause 8, Article 92 of the Commercial Law and Articles 8, 9, 10, 11 and 14 of this Decree;

b/ Conducting sales promotion in the forms specified in Article 12 of this Decree, of which the total value of prizes or gifts is under VND 100 million;

c/ Only implementing sales promotion programmes in the forms specified in Article 12 of this Decree for goods sold and services provided via e-commerce exchanges, e-commerce exchange applications or online promotional websites and online promotional applications.”

3. To amend Clause 3 as follows:

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

a/ Through public postal services, by using the service provided by enterprises or individuals, or through authorisation in accordance with law;

b/ Online via 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 select one of the following forms of notification:

a/ Through public postal services, by using the service provided by enterprises or individuals, or through authorisation in accordance with law;

b/ Online via 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 select one of the following forms of registration:

a/ Through public postal services, by using the service provided by enterprises or individuals, or through authorisation in accordance with law;

b/ Online via 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 select one of the following forms of registration:

a/ Through public postal services, by using the registration service provided by enterprises or individuals, or through authorisation in accordance with law;

b/ Online via the National Public Service Portal.”.

2. To amend Clause 3 as follows:

“Within 4 working days from the date of receiving a dossier (determined based on the receipt date written on the delivery note or document of equivalent validity if such dossier is sent by post or 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 programme to the trader; in case of refusal, it shall clearly state the reason as prescribed by law.”

Article 8. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 2, Clauses 3, 7, 8 and 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 organised overseas.”.

2. To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

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

a/ Through public postal services, by using the service provided by enterprises or individuals, or through authorisation in accordance with law;

b/ Online via 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 organisation of the trade fair or exhibition. In case of refusal, it shall clearly state the reason. The letter of certification and notice of 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 letter of certification of registration for the organisation of the overseas trade fair or exhibition to the Customs Department, the Immigration Department, local public security agency, and the Vietnamese diplomatic representative mission in the place where the trade fair or exhibition is organised.”.

4. To amend and supplement Clause 8 as follows:

“8. For the case in which 2 or more traders or organisations engaged in trade-related activities register the organisation of trade fairs or exhibitions with the same name, theme, time and place, competent state management agencies shall hold a negotiation to select a trader or an organisation to organise 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 certify the registration of organisation of the trade fair or exhibition to a trader or organisation engaged in trade-related activities in Vietnam based on the following grounds:

a/ The results of similar trade fairs and exhibitions already organised;

b/ The capacity to organise trade fairs and exhibitions;

c/ Experiences in organising 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 select one of the following forms of registration:

a/ Through public postal services, by hiring the registration service provided by enterprises or individuals, or through authorisation in accordance with law;

b/ Online via 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 shall reply in writing whether to certify the changes in organisation of the trade fair or exhibition. In case of refusal, it shall clearly state the reason. The leter of certification or notice of refusal of certification of the changes 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:

“b/ Carrying out specialised examination and supervision of the compliance with the law on trade promotion by traders and organisations engaged in trade-related activities and sanctioning administrative violations committed by such traders and organisations in accordance with law; specifying the maximum value of promotional goods or services and the maximum discount rate for promoted goods or services that traders may offer in promotional 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 organisations engaged in trade-related activities and sanctioning administrative violations committed by such traders and organisations in accordance with law; strictly handle violations involving promotional activities conducted in the form of discounts in the course of performing assigned tasks, upon the detection of such violations, or upon the receipt of reports thereof;”.

Article 11. To annul and replace a number of provisions of the Government’s Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP which is amended and supplemented by Decree No. 128/2024/ND-CP of October 10, 2024

1. To annul Articles 6 and 7 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP which is amended and supplemented under Points a and b, Clause 1, and Clause 2, Article 1 of Decree No. 128/2024/ND-CP of October 10, 2024.

2. To annul 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, provided in the Appendix to Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP which is amended and supplemented by Decree No. 128/2024/ND-CP of October 10, 2024.

Article 12. Implementation provisions

1. This Decree takes effect on the date of its signing.

2. To annul Article 14, Section 2, Chapter IV to the Government’s Decree No. 146/2025/ND-CP of June 12, 2025, on delegation of powers and decentralisation in the field of industry and trade.

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

Article 13. Transitional provisions

1. Valid dossiers that are submitted before the effective date of this Decree may continue to be processed according to the order and procedures specified in the Government’s Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP of May 22, 2018, detailing the Commercial Law’s provisions on trade promotion, which is amended and supplemented by the Government’s Decree No. 128/2024/ND-CP of October 10, 2024; Resolution No. 19/2026/NQ-CP of April 29, 2026, on reduction, decentralisation and simplification of administrative procedures and business conditions under the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s management. Dossiers for carrying out administrative procedures that are submitted on and after the effective date of this Decree must be processed according to the order and procedures specified in this Decree.

2. Prizes without the winner of luck-based sales promotion programmes specified in Article 13 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP for which competent state management agencies certify the registration of sales promotion programmes before the effective date of this Decree must comply with Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP. Prizes without the winner of luck-based sales promotion programmes specified in Article 13 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP for which competent state management agencies certify the registration of promotion programmes after the effective date of this Decree must comply with this Decree.-

On behalf of the Government
For the Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
PHAM GIA TUC