Law on Advertising revised, No. 75/2025/QH15

LAW

Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Advertising

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which had a number of articles amended and supplemented under Resolution No. 203/2025/QH15;

The National Assembly promulgates the Law on Amending and Supplementing a Number of the Law on Advertising No. 16/2012/QH13, which had a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 35/2018/QH14, Law No. 42/2024/QH14 and Law No. 47/2024/QH14.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Advertising

1. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 2 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Advertising means the use of persons or media in order to present to the advertisement recipients products, goods and services, organizations and individuals producing or trading in such products, goods and services.”;

b) To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. Advertising promotion means activities of seeking and boosting opportunities to sign advertising contracts.”;

c) To amend and supplement Clauses 6, 7, 8 and 9 as follows:

“6. Advertising service provider means an organization or individual that performs one, several or all of the stages of the advertising process under an advertising contract.

7. Advertisement publisher means an organization or individual that uses advertisement conveyors or media of advertising (hereinafter referred to as persons or media of advertising) under its/his/her management to present advertisements. Advertisement publishers include press agencies, publishers, website owners, organizers of cultural or sports programs and other organizations and individuals using persons or media of advertising.

8. Advertisement conveyor means a person who directly brings advertisements, recommendations or confirmations of products, goods, services online, or directly advertises by wearing, hanging, sticking, drawing for profit purposes, or by other forms as prescribed by the Government.

9. Advertisement recipient means a person who receives information from advertisements via persons or media of advertising.”;

c) To add Clauses 14 and 15 after Clause 13 as follows:

“14. Cross-border advertising service provision in Vietnam means that an overseas organization or individual uses service-providing equipment systems located outside the territory of Vietnam to provide advertising services to users in Vietnam via the Internet.

15. Object of advertisement means an item designed, placed, or used for the purpose of conveying advertising information.”.

2. To amend and supplement Article 4 as follows:

“Article 4. State management of advertising

1. Contents of the state management of advertising:

a) Formulating, promulgating, or submitting to competent agencies and persons for promulgation, and organizing the implementation of legal normative documents on advertising; approving the code of professional conduct in advertising;

b) Formulating, and organizing the implementation of, strategies, master plans on outdoor advertising, plans and policies on development of the advertising industry;

c) Disseminating and educating about the advertising law;

d) Organizing the conduct of scientific research and technological application in advertising;

dd) Organizing training and retraining of human resources for advertising;

e) Organizing commendation work in advertising activities;

g) Organizing international cooperation in the field of advertising;

h) Conducting inspection and examination, settling petitions, feedback, complaints and denunciations and handling violations in advertising activities.

2. State management responsibilities for advertising activities:

a) The Government shall perform the uniform state management of advertising activities;

b) The Government shall assign ministries and ministerial-level agencies to assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate in, the implementation of state management of advertising activities;

c) People’s Committees at all levels shall perform the state management of advertising activities in their localities according to their competence.”.

3. To amend and supplement Article 6 as follows:

“Article 6. Advertising contract

Cooperation among the subjects in advertising activities must be effected through advertising contracts in accordance with law.”.

4. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 8 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. Using advertisements that are contrary to historical traditions, culture, and social ethics.”’

b) To amend and supplement Clause 10 as follows:

“10. Advertising that compares one’s products, goods, or services with those of the same kind of another organization or individual without lawful proof.”.

5. To amend and supplement Clauses 2 and 3, Article 9 as follows:

“2. The advertisement appraisal council is composed of representatives from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, representatives of relevant agencies, organizations, experts in related fields, and representatives of professional advertising organizations.

3. The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall detail this Article.”.

6. To amend and supplement Article 11 as follows:

“Article 11. Handling of violations in advertising activities

1. Organizations and individuals committing violations of this Law or other relevant laws shall, depending on the nature and seriousness of their violations, be disciplined, administratively sanctioned or examined for penal liability and; if causing any damage, pay compensations in accordance with law.

2. Competent agencies and persons shall take responsibility for their handling decisions and, if issuing incorrect decisions and causing any damage, pay compensations in accordance with law.”.

7. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 2, Article 13 as follows:

“b) Examine the documents related to the advertising conditions of the to be-advertised organizations, individuals, products, goods and services, and carry out relevant procedures under the advertising contracts;”.

8. To amend and supplement Clause 4, Article 14 as follows:

“4. To perform signed advertising contracts and take direct responsibility for advertisements put on persons or media of advertising under their management.”.

9. To add Article 15a after Article 15 as follows:

“Article 15a. Rights and obligations of advertisement conveyors

1. An advertisement conveyor is entitled to:

a) Be provided with accurate, complete and truthful information by advertisers about the to be-advertised organizations, individuals, products, goods and services and documents related to the advertising conditions;

b) Other rights as provided by law.

2. An advertisement conveyor is obliged to:

a) Comply with the law on consumer rights protection and other laws on information provision concerning product, goods, and service features and quality when conducting advertising; fulfill tax obligations when revenue arises from advertising services in accordance with tax laws;

b) Provide documents related to the advertisement contents at the request of competent state agencies;

c) Take responsibility before the law in case the advertisement content fails to meet the requirements as prescribed in Article 19 of this Law;

d) Perform other obligations in accordance with law;

dd) Online advertisement conveyors shall comply with Points a, b, c, d of this Clause and other relevant provisions of Article 23 of this Law.

3. Influencers as defined in the law on consumer rights protection, when acting as advertisement conveyors, shall comply with Clause 2 of this Article and the following obligations:

a) To verify the credibility of advertisers; to review documents related to the advertised products, goods, or services; in case of not having used or not being knowledgeable about the products, goods, or services, they shall not introduce them;

b) To give prior and concurrent notice of advertising during the advertising activities.”.

10. To amend and supplement Clause 7, Article 17 as follows:

“7. Objects of advertisement.”.

11. To add Clause 1a after Clause 1, Article 18 as follows:

“1a. Vietnamese-language expressions in advertisements must ensure the purity of the Vietnamese language, be clear, easy to understand, and accurately convey the intended content.”.

12. To amend and supplement Article 19 as follows:

“Article 19. Requirements on advertisement contents

1. Advertisement contents must be truthful, accurate and clear without causing misunderstanding about the features, quality, utility, or effects of products, goods, or services.

2. Where the advertisement is required to contain annotations, recommendations, or warnings, such content must be fully, clearly, and accessibly displayed; text must have a color contrasting with the background color and must not be smaller than the font size used in the advertisement; annotations, recommendations, and warnings must be fully and clearly spoken at a speed and volume equivalent to those of other contents within the same advertisement.

3. Advertising contents shall not include:

a) Materials, information, images describing products, goods, services, and products, goods provided by organizations or individuals for promotional activities, display, introduction of goods, services, and trade fairs or exhibitions, except for functional foods and foods for special dietary use which must comply with the law on food safety;

b) Contents that must be presented on goods labels or product packaging as prescribed by the law on goods labeling, except for functional foods and foods for special dietary use which must comply with the provisions of the law on food safety; contents that must be publicly disclosed and provided to customers and consumers; information, education, and communication contents on prevention and control of the harmful effects of goods; and other contents which are the responsibility and obligation to disclose under relevant laws.

4. The Government shall stipulate the lists of special products, goods and services, and requirements on advertisement contents of special products, goods and services.”.

13. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 20 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Having a business registration certificate as prescribed by law when advertising goods, product trading or service provision activities.”;

b) To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. When advertising special products, goods, and services, it is required to have documents or information certifying that such products, goods, and services are permitted for circulation or implementation in Vietnam and remain valid in accordance with the law, except for cases where the special products, goods, and services are not subject to licensing and must satisfy the following conditions:

a) Complying with the law on pharmacy when advertising medicines;

b) Having a cosmetics announcement sheet as required by the law when advertising cosmetics;

c) Having a circulation registration certificate as prescribed by law when advertising pesticides or disinfectants for domestic and medical use;

f) Satisfying the conditions prescribed in this Law and registering the product declaration or self-declaration of products in accordance with the law on food safety when advertising foods, food additives, and nutritional products for children up to 36 months of age;

dd) Having a practicing certificate or a license to operate medical examination and treatment in accordance with the law on medical examination and treatment when advertising medical examination and treatment services;

e) Having a circulation number or the import license for imported medical equipment in accordance with the law, except for medical equipment not subject to circulation number issuance or import licensing, when advertising imported medical equipment;

g) Having a plant protection drug registration certificate as prescribed by the law on plant protection and quarantine when advertising plant protection drugs;

h) Having a certificate of circulation of veterinary drugs and a product property summary sheet as prescribed by the law on veterinary medicine when advertising veterinary medicines;

i) Having a decision recognizing fertilizer circulation in Vietnam when advertising fertilizers; having a decision recognizing circulation, a decision recognizing conditional circulation, a published declaration on circulation of plant varieties, or an import license for plant varieties granted by competent state agencies when advertising plant varieties; having the published information on such products as prescribed by the law on animal husbandry when advertising animal feed and livestock waste treatment products.”.

14. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 21 as follows:

“1. The advertisement area must not exceed 30% of the total area of a newspaper or 40% of the total area of a magazine, except advertising newspapers and magazines, and advertising supplements; advertisements must have a mark distinguishing advertisement contents from other contents.”.

15. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 22 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clauses 1 and 2 as follows:

“1. The advertisement duration on programs broadcast via the free-to-air method must not exceed 10% of the total broadcast duration in a day of each channel, except the advertisement duration on advertising channels and programs; there must be a sign distinguishing advertisement contents from other contents.

2. The advertisement duration on pay television channels must not exceed 5% of the total broadcast duration in a day of each channel, except the advertisement duration on advertising channels and programs; there must be a sign distinguishing advertisement contents from other contents.”;

b) To amend and supplement Clauses 4, 5, 6 and add Clause 5a after Clause 5 as follows:

“4. Entertainment programs and films with a duration of less than 05 minutes shall not be interrupted for advertising. Each entertainment program and film with a duration from 05 minutes to less than 15 minutes may be interrupted once for advertising; that with a duration of 15 minutes or more, an additional advertisement break is permitted for every 15-minute increment of the program duration, with each break not exceeding 05 minutes.

5. For advertisements displayed together with the official information content in the form of running text or series of pictures, the advertising area must not exceed 10% of the screen area; there must be a sign distinguishing the advertisement content from other contents and it must not interfere with the main contents of the show. This form of advertising is not included in the advertisement duration on television.

When presenting an advertisement in the form of running text, the advertisement must appear at the bottom edge of the screen.

5a. Television agencies and broadcasting service providers that transmit and broadcast live international events or foreign sports programs containing certain advertising information or images of products, goods, or services as specified in Article 7 of this Law may do so upon satisfying the following conditions:

a) Possess the broadcasting rights for live transmission in Vietnam;

b) Not enter into advertising contracts for such products, goods, or services; having no direct interest related to the appearance of such advertisement contents;

c) Not have the right to control the advertisement content and be technically unable to blur such advertisement contents during live rebroadcasting; must issue a warning that the advertisement content is inappropriate in both Vietnamese and English, and request the competent state agency and relevant organizations to implement blocking measures to ensure that Internet users in Vietnam cannot access the websites providing such products, goods, or services.

In the case of rebroadcasting the program, technical measures must be taken to blur inappropriate advertising content; if it is not possible to technically blur such content, a warning that the advertising content is inappropriate must be issued in both Vietnamese and English, and the competent state agency and relevant organizations must be requested to implement blocking measures to ensure that Internet users in Vietnam cannot access the websites providing such products, goods, or services;

d) The advertisement content must not be presented in Vietnamese.

6. Radio and television agencies shall obtain a license from the competent state management agency when wishing to produce an advertising channel or program. The Government shall detail the application dossier, process, and procedures for licensing the production of advertising channels or programs.”.

16. To amend and supplement Article 23 as follows:

“Article 23. Online advertising

1. Online advertising activities include advertising on online newspapers, websites, social networks, online applications, and digital platforms connected to the Internet.

2. Online advertising activities must comply with the following provisions:

a) There must be a clear identification mark in the form of numerals, letters, symbols, images, or sounds to distinguish advertisement content from other non-advertisement content;

b) For non-fixed position advertisements, there must be recognizable features or icons allowing advertisement recipients to disable the advertisement, report violating advertisement content to the service provider, and reject inappropriate advertisement content;

c) For advertisements containing hyperlinks to other content, the linked content must comply with the law; advertising service providers and advertisement publishers must have measures to inspect and monitor the linked content;

d) Organizations and enterprises providing social network services must provide users with features to distinguish advertisement content from other content;

dd) Users of social network services who engage in advertising must indicate the difference between advertisement or sponsored content and other content they provide.

3. Advertisers, advertising service providers, advertisement publishers, and advertisement conveyors participating in online advertising activities shall have the rights and obligations prescribed in Articles 12, 13, 14, and 15a of this Law and must comply with:

a) Provisions of the law on advertising, cybersecurity, personal data protection, consumer rights protection, child protection, and management, provision, and use of Internet services and online information; they must register for tax, declare, and pay taxes for revenue generated from advertising services in accordance with the tax law;

b) Not placing advertisements within, next to, immediately before or after content that violates the law; not advertising on websites, social networks, online applications, or digital platforms that violate the law;

c) Not cooperating in advertising with organizations, individuals, websites, social networks, online applications, digital platforms, accounts, content channels, community pages, or social network groups that have been publicly notified by competent state agencies as violating the law;

d) Taking measures to block or remove information that violates the law upon request by competent state agencies; providing information about organizations and individuals involved in online advertising activities showing signs of violations against the law at the request of competent state agencies;

dd) Complying with administrative sanctions and other handling measures imposed by competent agencies or persons when violating the advertising law.

4. Advertisers, advertisement publishers, and advertisement conveyors, upon entering into contracts with online advertising service providers, shall have the following rights and obligations:

a) To request advertising service providers to comply with Point b, Clause 3 of this Article;

b) To request advertising service providers to implement technical solutions enabling advertisers and advertisement publishers in Vietnam to monitor and remove advertisements that violate the law from the service provision system.

5. Online advertising service providers shall:

a) Notify contact information to competent state agencies;

b) Verify the identity of advertisers and request advertisers to provide business registration certificates or other valid legal documents;

c) Retain information and dossiers on advertising activities and provide such information at the request of competent state agencies;

d) Have technical solutions in place to monitor and remove advertisements that violate the law from the service provision system;

dd) Retain information on advertising distribution rules and algorithms used for issuing advertisements online;

e) Establish a mechanism for receiving and resolving complaints related to online advertising service business activities;

g) Comply with regulations on transparency in online advertising activities when establishing and operating intermediary digital platforms for service provision;

h) Implement periodic annual reporting regimes and irregular reports upon request from competent state agencies.

6. Foreign advertisers wishing to advertise their products, goods, services, organizations, or individuals via cross-border advertising in Vietnam shall comply with the provisions of Article 39 of this Law.

7. Organizations and individuals engaging in online advertising activities must block or remove violating advertisements within no more than 24 hours from the time of receiving a request from competent state agencies. In case of non-compliance with the request, the competent state agency shall take technical measures to block violations of the law on advertising and take handling measures in accordance with the law. Telecommunications enterprises and Internet service providers shall be responsible for blocking violating advertisements at the request of competent state agencies.

8. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

17. To amend and supplement Article 26 as follows:

“Article 26. Advertising in audio and video records, and advertising in film content

1. The advertisement duration in audio records and video records of cultural, art and cinematographic programs or audio records and video records being book substitutes or book illustrations must not exceed 5% of the program duration, except for advertisements broadcast on radio and television.

2. Advertising in film content shall comply with regulations prescribed by the Government.”.

18. To amend and supplement Article 28 as follows:

“Article 28. Advertisements on advertising screens

1. The positions of advertising screens must comply with this Law, other relevant laws, technical regulations on outdoor advertising media, and local outdoor advertising master plans.

2. Advertising on outdoor advertising screens must comply with the following requirements:

a) No sound shall be used;

b) The brightness of the advertising screen must not affect traffic safety.

3. The owner or lawful user of the screen shall be responsible for applying technical measures to prevent and block cyberattacks, and to ensure cybersecurity and information safety for advertising screens.

4. The management of advertising activities on network-connected advertising screens shall comply with the regulations prescribed by the Government.”.

19. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 30 as follows:

“1. An organization or individual wishing to advertise on billboards or banners shall send a dossier of advertisement notification to the competent state agency in charge of advertising of the locality before implementation.”.

20. To add Clause 5 after Clause 4, Article 31 as follows:

“5. Organizations and individuals owning advertising constructions shall be responsible for the construction quality and safety, fire prevention and fighting of signboards and billboards; for repairing and replacing outdoor signboards, billboards, and advertising screens, or dismantling advertisements in case of damage or expiration of the advertising contract. In case of causing damage, compensation must be made and other legal responsibilities must be assumed in accordance with the law.”.

21. To amend and supplement Clause 2, and add Clause 3 after Clause 2, Article 33 as follows:

“2. It is prohibited to advertise by loudspeakers attached to means of transport and other movable means in urban areas.

3. The Government shall regulate the advertising of the National Brand on commune-level radio broadcasting stations.”.

22. To amend and supplement Point c, Clause 1, Article 36 as follows:

“c) An organization or individual wishing to organize advertising performer teams shall send a dossier of notification to the competent state agency in charge of advertising of the locality before the advertisement.

The Government shall assign agencies or competent persons to prescribe the dossiers and procedures for reviewing the organization of an advertising performer team.”.

23. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 37 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Outdoor advertising planning must specify: designs, sizes, materials and quantities, media of advertising along road routes; within urban areas; the allocation and zoning of locations for visual propaganda activities and outdoor advertising in the central urban areas; development orientations for outdoor advertising activities; and classified advertisements.”;

b) To amend and supplement Points b, c, d and dd, Clause 2 as follows:

“b) Non-contradiction and non-conflict with higher-level master plans; assurance of consistency and synchrony between the advertising master plan and socio-economic development strategies and plans; conformity with urban and rural planning; assurance of traffic order and safety, social order and safety, and urban scenery;

c) Assurance of scientific foundation; application of modern technology; interoperability, predictability, feasibility, cost-effectiveness; environmental protection; efficient use of national resources; assurance of objectivity, publicity, and transparency;

d) Assurance of consistency and harmony among the localities in adjoining areas;

dd) Inheritance of existing advertising locations consistent with the applicable regulations; if the implementation or adjustment of the master plan causes damage to organizations and individuals, the master plan-approving agency shall organize compensation in accordance with law;”;

c) To add Clause 2a after Clause 2, and amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“2a. The use of land for advertising constructions shall comply with the land law.

3. The Government shall stipulate the dossier and procedures for formulating, approving, implementing and adjusting outdoor advertising master plans.”.

24. To amend and supplement Article 38 as follows:

“Article 38. Responsibilities for formulating, and guiding the implementation of, outdoor advertising master plans

1. The provincial-level People’s Committees shall:

a) Formulate, adjust and approve local outdoor advertising master plans in stages in conformity with the local socio-economic development;

b) Allocate funds and resources for the implementation of the master plan;

c) Publicly disclose the contents of the master plan in the forms prescribed by the planning law;

d) Guide, urge, inspect and periodically evaluate the implementation of outdoor advertising master plans;

dd) Approve multi-purpose land use plans for land plots designated for outdoor advertising master plan locations.

2. The Minister of Construction shall promulgate technical regulations on outdoor advertising media.

3. The Minister of Construction shall coordinate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and related ministries in guiding the localities to develop their advertising master plans under the technical regulations promulgated by the Minister of Construction.”.

25. To annul Clause 2, Article 2; Article 5; Clause 13, Article 8; Clause 5, Article 16; Clauses 7 and 8, Article 22; Clause 2, Article 29; Point b, Clause 3, Article 31; and Point c, Clause 1, Article 33.

26. To remove the phrase “the location lease contract between the investor of the advertising construction and the lawful owner or user, for advertising constructions attached to existing constructions, or the written bid winning notice, for advertising locations subject to bidding included in the master plan;” at Point c, Clause 3, Article 31.

Article 2. Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Commercial Law No. 36/2005/QH11, which had a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 05/2017/QH14 and Law No. 44/2019/QH14

1. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 4 of the Commercial Law as follows:

“2. Particular commercial activities provided for in other laws shall comply with the provisions of such laws. Commercial advertising activities shall comply with the provisions of the law on advertising.”.

2. To annul Section 2, Chapter IV of the Commercial Law.

Article 3. Effect

1. This Law takes effect on January 1, 2026, except as provided in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. In cases where organizations or individuals have submitted notification of advertisements on billboards or banners, or notification of advertising performer teams, but have not received opinions from the competent state agencies in charge of advertising by the effective date of this Law, the provisions of the Law on Advertising No. 16/2012/QH13, as amended and supplemented under Law No. 35/2018/QH14, Law No. 42/2024/QH15, and Law No. 47/2024/QH15 shall apply.

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This Law was passed on June 16, 2025, by the XV^th National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its 9^th session.

Chairman of the National Assembly

TRAN THANH MAN