Decree 38/2026/ND-CP on import of ball-and-burlap trees, planting area codes, packing house codes

DECREE

On import of ball-and-burlap trees and planting area codes, packing house codes

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

Pursuant to the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine No. 41/2013/QH13, amended and supplemented under Law No. 146/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the Law on Crop Production No. 31/2018/QH14, amended and supplemented under Law No. 146/2025/QH15;

At the request of the Minister of Agriculture and Environment;

The Government promulgates the Decree on the import of ball-and-burlap trees and planting area codes, packing house codes.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Decree provides regulations on:

1. The import of ball-and-burlap trees as stipulated in Clause 5a, Article 13 of the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine, as amended and supplemented under Clause 2, Article 2 of the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of 15 Laws in the Agriculture and Environment Sectors (hereinafter referred to as the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine).

2. The planting area codes and packing house codes as stipulated in Article 64 of the Law on Crop Production, as amended and supplemented under Clause 6, Article 15 of the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of 15 Laws in the Agriculture and Environment Sectors (hereinafter referred to as the Law on Crop Production).

Article 2. Subjects of application

This Decree applies to organizations and individuals who import ball-and-burlap trees; request the issuance of planting area codes and packing house codes and other relevant agencies, organizations and individuals.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

1. A planting area is a place where a crop is produced in the same production process, ensuring uniformity in natural conditions.

2. A packaging house is a place that classifies, preliminarily processes, packs and preserves plant products.

Chapter II

PROVISIONS ON IMPORT OF BALL-AND-BURLAP TREES

Article 4. Plant quarantine requirements for the import of ball-and-burlap trees into Vietnam

1. Having a phytosanitary license as prescribed in Article 28 of the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine.

2. In cases where the species of ball-and-burlap trees is imported into Vietnam for the first time, a pest risk analysis must be conducted in accordance with Article 27 of the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine.

3. In cases where ball-and-burlap tree species was permitted for import into Vietnam prior to the effective date of this Decree, the central plant protection and quarantine authority must inspect the pest status at the place of production in the exporting country or territory before issuing the subsequent phytosanitary license for such ball-and-burlap tree species. The central plant protection and quarantine authority shall be responsible for publicly disclosing the production places that have been inspected in the exporting country or territory.

4. Import is only allowed through international border gates announced periodically by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment on the Ministry’s portal, and plant quarantine procedures shall be carried out in accordance with Article 33 of the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine.

5. Imported ball-and-burlap trees must be brought to quarantine areas that meet the National Standards for plant quarantine isolation areas applicable to such trees imported into Vietnam and monitored post-import plant quarantine. During the period when there is no national standard, the technical requirements on plant quarantine isolation areas for ball-and-burlap trees in Appendix I promulgated together with this Decree shall be applied.

Article 5. Plant quarantine after import in quarantine areas

1. Organizations and individuals must transport consignments of ball-and-burlap trees to the quarantine area immediately after completing import procedures and must notify the authority assigned to conduct post-import plant quarantine so that monitoring can be carried out at the quarantine area.

2. The post-import plant quarantine monitoring period is 03 months from the time the plant is put into the quarantine area.

3. The authority assigned to conduct post-import plant quarantine shall inspect the quarantine area, monitor, and conclude the pest status of the consignment of ball-and-burlap trees.

Upon the expiration of the quarantine monitoring period specified in Clause 2 of this Article, if no pests that are regulated quarantine organisms in Vietnam or other unusual harmful organisms are detected, monitoring shall be terminated, and the authority assigned to conduct post-import plant quarantine shall inform the organization or individual accordingly.

In the event that pests are detected which are regulated quarantine organisms in Vietnam or other unusual harmful organisms, the authority assigned to conduct post-import plant quarantine shall report to the central specialized agency for plant protection and quarantine to determine the application of thorough eradication measures in accordance with Article 34 of the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine.

Chapter III

PROVISIONS ON PLANTING AREA CODES AND PACKING HOUSE CODES

Article 6. Technical requirements for planting area applying for code issuance

1. The minimum area of a cultivation zone shall be 10 hectares (ha) for perennial crops. For annual crops, the area shall be appropriate to the specific conditions of each locality. In cases where the importing country has different requirements regarding area or technical specifications, such requirements shall apply.

2. There must be a production process promulgated by a competent state authority or carried out in accordance with the guidance of the central or local plant protection and quarantine authority.

3. Records must be kept and maintained regarding information related to the production process and product harvesting.

4. For cultivation zones serving export, in addition to meeting the requirements specified in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of this Article, compliance with the plant quarantine and food safety requirements of the importing country is also mandatory.

Article 7. Technical requirements for packaging house

1. Having a specific location and area suitable to the scale of operation; the warehouse is arranged in one-way principle and separate functional subdivisions; having electricity, clean water, and drainage systems.

2. Having equipment and tools for receiving, classifying, preliminarily processing, packaging and preserving products; having a packaging process; having measures to control harmful organisms.

3. Having files to record and archive information related to the origin of plant products, the process of packaging, exporting or consuming products; dossiers of control of harmful organisms, records of monitoring the hygiene of packaging houses, records of personnel, internal training, records of use of chemicals.

4. In addition to satisfying the requirements specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article, packaging houses serving export must comply with the requirements on plant quarantine and food safety of the importing country.

Article 8. Dossiers and procedures for granting planting area codes and packing house codes

1. Planting area codes and packing house codes shall be granted at the request of organizations and individuals.

2. Dossier of application for planting area codes

a) An application form for planting area code as provided in Appendix II issued together with this Decree;

b) An explanatory statement of the planting area as provided in Appendix III issued together with this Decree.

3. Dossier of application for packing house code

a) An application for packing establishment code according to Appendix II issued together with this Decree;

b) An explanation of the packaging house according to Appendix IV issued together with this Decree.

4. Procedures for issuance of cultivation zone codes and packing establishment codes

a) Organizations and individuals shall submit 01 set of dossiers of application for issuance cultivation zone codes or packing house codes to agencies assigned by the Chairperson of provincial-level People's Committee to receive and process administrative procedures (hereinafter referred to as assigned specialized agencies), either directly, online, or via postal services;

b) The assigned specialized agency shall immediately respond to the completeness of the dossier in case of direct submission and shall provide a written response on the completeness of the dossier within 02 working days in case of submission via online or postal services, counting from the date of receipt of the dossier. In case the dossier does not comply with regulations, it shall be returned to the organization or individual for supplementation and completion;

c) Within 10 working days from the date of receipt of a complete and valid dossier, the specialized agency assigned to organize the appraisal of the dossier, organize the physical inspection and make a record of inspection of the planting area according to Appendix V or the record of inspection of the packaging house according to Appendix VI issued together with this Decree;

d) Within 02 working days from the date of satisfactory physical inspection results, the assigned specialized agency shall issue a decision on issuance of planting area codes and packing establishment codes according to Appendix VII issued together with this Decree.

In case the results of the physical inspection are unsatisfactory, the assigned specialized agencies must notify in writing, clearly stating the reasons to organizations and individuals to remedy the non-conformities and report the corrective results.

Within 04 working days from the date of receipt of the report on satisfactory corrective results, the assigned specialized agency shall appraise the dossier, conduct physical inspection and issue the planting area code or the packing house code; in case of refusal, a written notice must be issued clearly stating the reason.

5. In case of changes to the name of organization or individual representing planting area code or the packing house code or due to the change of administrative boundaries, the organization or individual shall submit an application for re-issuance according to Appendix VIII issued together with this Decree. Within 02 working days from the receipt of the application for re-issuance of the organization, individual, the assigned specialized agency shall, based on the archived dossier, consider and re-issue the Decision according to Appendix IX issued together with this Decree; in case of refusal, a written notice must be issued clearly stating the reason.

Article 9. Rules for setting planting area codes or the packing house codes

1. A planting area is identified by a unique number:

Province code - PUC - Crop - YYYYY.

2. A packaging house identified by a unique number:

Province code - PHC - Crop - YYYYY.

In which:

PUC is the symbol of the planting area.

PHC is the symbol of the packaging house.

Crop is identity code for each type of crop posted on the portal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

Provincial codes are codes of administrative units in accordance with the provisions of the Prime Minister's Decision No. 19/2025/QD-TTg dated June 30, 2025, on the promulgation of the List and codes of administrative units in Vietnam and documents updating and supplementing codes of new administrative units.

YYYYY is the ordinal number of the planting area/packaging house that is issued with a code, for example: 00001, 00002...

3. Where a planting area or packaging house is approved by the importing country, its code shall be appended with three characters in the format prescribed by the ISO 3166 code table corresponding to each importing market.

Article 10. Inspection and supervision of planting area codes and packing house codes

1. Organizations and individuals that have been granted planting area codes or packing house codes must carry out self‑monitoring at least once per year for packaging houses, and prior to each harvest season for planting areas, and must maintain records of such monitoring.

2. The assigned specialized agency shall conduct inspections regarding technical requirements for planting areas and packaging houses that have been granted codes, either at the request of the importing country or for management purposes. The inspection record for planting areas shall follow Appendix V, and the inspection record for packaging houses shall follow Appendix VI issued together with this Decree.

3. Processing test results

In cases where a planting area or packaging house that has been granted a code fails to meet any of the technical requirements specified in Article 6 or Article 7 of this Decree, the assigned specialized agency shall issue a written notice on the suspension of the code’s use and require corrective measures. If the planting area or packaging house does not implement corrective actions, or implements them incompletely, the granted code shall be revoked.

Article 11. Temporary suspension from use of planting area codes and packing house codes

1. Planting area codes and packing house codes shall be suspended in the following cases:

a) Failing to maintain one of the technical requirements specified in Article 6 or Article 7 of this Decree;

b) Failing to coordinate with assigned professional agencies upon request or failing to carry out self-supervision as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 10 of this Decree;

c) There are violations of plant quarantine or food safety as notified by the specialized agency in charge of plant protection and quarantine at the central level;

d) At the request of organizations and individuals that are granted cultivation zone codes and packing house codes, clearly stating the suspension period.

2. For the cases specified at Points a, b, and c, Clause 1 of this Article, within 03 working days from the date of detecting the violation, the assigned specialized authority must issue a Notice of temporary operation suspension of the planting cultivation zone code or the packing house code, in accordance with Appendix X promulgated together with this Decree.

The temporary suspension of the use of planting area codes and packing house codes for export shall apply to specific markets and shall not affect the validity of such codes with respect to other markets.

3. Investigation of causes and remedy measures

a) Organizations and individuals that have been granted planting area codes or packing house codes which are temporarily suspended under Points a, b, and c, Clause 1 of this Article must conduct investigations to determine the causes, implement corrective measures, and submit a report to the assigned specialized agency within a maximum of 60 days from the date of receiving the suspension notice;

b) Within 04 working days from the date of receipt of the remediation report, the assigned specialized agency shall evaluate the remedy results of the planting area codes or packing house codes. The assigned specialized agency must issue a decision on revocation of the planting area code and packing house codes issued under Appendix XI issued together with this Decree or a notice of operation resumption of planting area code/ packing house code under Appendix XII issued together with this Decree.

Article 12. Revocation of planting area codes and packing house codes

1. Planting area codes and packing house codes shall be revoked in the following cases:

a) Use of banned chemicals, use of pesticide products which are not on the list of pesticide products permitted for use in Vietnam (except for the case of testing of pesticide products under the testing license);

b) Using forged papers and documents in the dossier of application for planting area codes and packing house codes;

c) At the request of organizations and individuals that are granted planting area codes and packing house codes;

d) Planting areas and packaging houses that have terminated production activities or changed the use purpose or converted crops in contravention of the original registration;

dd) There is no remedy report after 60 days from the date on which the assigned specialized agency issues a notice of suspension of use of codes under Clause 3, Article 11 of this Decree or a remedy report that fails to meet technical requirements.

2. Specialized agencies assigned to issue decisions on revocation of planting area codes or packing house codes issued according to Appendix XI issued together with this Decree.

3. For planting area codes and packing house codes that are revoked according to each import market, the assigned specialized agencies shall only consider receiving dossiers of re-issuance for markets that have been revoked after 12 months from the date of decision on revocation for such markets.

4. The revocation of planting area codes and packing house codes shall be specific to each specific market and shall not affect the validity of the use of codes for other markets.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION

Article 13. Responsibilities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment

1. To develop documentation and organize training sessions for the issuance and management of planting area codes and packing house codes.

2. To develop documentation and organize training sessions for the issuance and management of planting area codes and packing house codes.

3. To update and notify the competent specialized authority of regulations pertaining to plant quarantine and food safety.

4. To notify the competent specialized authority of violations concerning planting area codes and packing house codes as reported by the importing country, as well as violations arising during plant quarantine procedures or food safety compliance.

5. To receive and consolidate planting area codes and packing house codes from the competent specialized authorities for submission to the importing country.

6. To establish and publicly disclose a database of planting area codes and packing house codes.

Article 14. Responsibilities of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities

1. To assign the competent specialized authority to bear full responsibility for the implementation of the issuance and management of planting area codes and packing house codes, at the same time, mobilize the participation of commune-level People's Committees according to decentralization.

2. To promulgate plans and organize the implementation of the issuance and management of planting area codes and packing house codes within their respective localities.

3. To allocate resources (including funding and personnel) to ensure the issuance, supervision, and management of planting area codes and packing house codes within their respective localities.

4. To formulate policies supporting and encouraging cooperation, production linkages, application of science and technology, and compliance with export market requirements; and to adopt policies supporting the development of concentrated production zones and packaging houses consistent with the agricultural development orientation of the locality.

5. To direct the competent specialized agencies to coordinate with the central plant protection and quarantine authority in conducting inspections of cultivation zones and packaging houses granted codes, in accordance with the programs of importing countries and management requirements.

6. To direct specialized agencies assigned to organize propaganda and training for organizations and individuals related to the establishment, maintenance and use of planting area codes and packing house codes.

Article 15. Responsibilities of organizations and individuals holding planting area codes

1. To maintain the technical requirements stipulated in Article 6 of this Decree.

2. To carry out self-monitoring in accordance with Clause 1, Article 10 of this Decree.

3. To cooperate with the competent specialized agencies in inspections as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 10 of this Decree.

4. To organize training and provide guidance to persons directly engaged in production within the planting area regarding production processes and pest management procedures.

5. To notify the competent specialized agencies in cases of change of ownership, conversion of crops, or cessation of the need to use the code.

6. To retain and preserve all records related to the planting area.

Article 16. Responsibilities of organizations and individuals holding packing house codes

1. To maintain the technical requirements stipulated in Article 7 of this Decree.

2. To formulate plans and organize the implementation of self-monitoring in accordance with Clause 1, Article 10 of this Decree.

3. To cooperate with the competent specialized agencies in inspections as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 10 of this Decree.

4. To package only plant products originating from granted planting area codes, in cases of export as required by the importing country.

5. To organize training and provide guidance to employees on regulations concerning plant quarantine, food safety, and packaging procedures.

6. To notify the competent specialized authority in cases of suspension of operations, dissolution, change of scale, change of ownership, conversion of use purposes inconsistent with the initial registration, or cessation of the need to use the code.

7. To retain all records related to the packaging house.

Article 17. Responsibilities of organizations and individuals importing ball-and-burlap trees

1. To provide information regarding the plant quarantine area when applying for a phytosanitary license.

2. To cooperate with the authority assigned to conduct post-import plant quarantine in monitoring consignments of ball-and-burlap trees at the quarantine area; to assume responsibility for managing such consignments, monitoring, and applying necessary measures to detect and prevent harmful organisms from spreading outside the area. Plants may only be removed from the quarantine area after there is confirmation that they are free from Vietnam’s plant quarantine pests or unknown harmful organisms.

3. To ensure proper recording and retention of documentation concerning the monitoring, inspection, detection, treatment of harmful organisms, and completion of post-import monitoring at the plant quarantine area for ball-and-burlap trees to their roots.

4. To bear all reasonable expenses incurred during the importation and post-import monitoring process.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 18. Effect

This Decree takes effect from the date of signing.

Article 19. Transitional provisions

1. Granted planting area codes and packing house codes shall remain valid for a period of one year from the effective date of this Decree, unless suspended or revoked. Organizations and individuals holding such codes shall be responsible for coordinating with the competent specialized agencies to complete administrative procedures for conversion to new codes in accordance with Article 9 of this Decree.

2. Documents issued by the Minister of Agriculture and Environment, and phytosanitary licenses for cases of importing ball-and-burlap trees, as provided under Clause 5 Article 13 of the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine 2013 and promulgated prior to the effective date of this Decree, shall continue to be valid until their stated expiry date, and shall not be subject to the provisions of this Decree

Article 20. Implementation responsibilities

Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of Government-attached agencies, Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities shall, within the scope of their assigned tasks and powers, implement this Decree./.