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

LAW

Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Advertising^[1]

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

The National Assembly promulgates the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of Law No. 16/2012/QH13 on Advertising, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 35/2018/QH14, Law No. 42/2024/QH15 and Law No. 47/2024/QH15.

Article 1. To amend and supplement 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 to present to advertisement recipients products, goods and services, or organizations and individuals engaged in the production and trade of 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 conclude 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 advertising media under its/his/her management to present advertising products, including press agencies, publishing houses, website owners, organizers of cultural or sports programs and other organizations or individuals using advertisement conveyors or advertising media.

8. Advertisement conveyor means a person who directly delivers advertisements, recommendations or confirmations of products, goods or services on the cyber environment or directly delivers advertisements by wearing, hanging, attaching, sticking, drawing, or using products, goods or services for profit-making purposes or in other forms as prescribed by the Government.

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

d/ To add Clauses 14 and 15 below Clause 13 as follows:

“14. Provision of cross-border advertising services in Vietnam means the act of overseas organizations or individuals using systems of service-providing equipment located outside Vietnam’s territory to provide advertising services to users in Vietnam via the Internet.

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

2. To amend and supplement Article 4 as follows:

“Article 4. State management of advertising activities

1. Contents of the state management of advertising activities:

a/ Formulating, promulgating, submitting to competent agencies or persons for promulgation, and implementing legal documents on advertising activities; approving the code of professional conduct in advertising;

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

c/ Conducting dissemination and education of the law on advertising;

d/ Organizing research into and application of science and technology to advertising activities;

dd/ Organizing training and further training of human resources for advertising activities;

e/ Organizing commendation work in advertising activities;

g/ Carrying out international cooperation in the field of advertising;

h/ Conducting inspection and examination, settling recommendations, complaints and denunciations and handling violations in advertising activities.

2. Responsibilities for state management of 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 with one another in, performing the state management of advertising activities;

c/ People’s Committees at all levels shall perform the state management of advertising activities within localities under their management.”.

3. To amend and supplement Article 6 as follows:

“Article 6. Advertising contracts

The cooperation among the subjects in advertising activities shall 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 Vietnam’s history, culture or social ethics.”;

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 10 as follows:

10. Advertising containing comparisons between one’s products, goods or services and others’ products, goods or services of the same type without supporting lawful documents.”.

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

“2. The Advertisement Appraisal Council is composed of a representative from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, representatives of agencies and organizations and experts in relevant 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 severity of their violations, be disciplined, administratively sanctioned or examined for penal liability; if causing any damage, they shall pay compensations in accordance with law.

2. Competent agencies and persons shall take responsibility for their handling decisions and, if issuing decisions wrongly, thus causing damage, they shall 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 the advertisements presented by the advertisement conveyors or placed on the advertising media under their management.”.

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

“Article 15a. Rights and obligations of advertisement conveyors

1. Advertisement conveyors have the following rights:

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

b/ Other rights as prescribed by law.

2. Advertisement conveyors have the following obligations:

a/ To oberserve the law on protection of consumer rights and other laws on provision of information related to properties and quality of products, goods and services when carrying out advertisement; to fulfill tax obligations arising from revenues generated from provision of advertising services in accordance with the tax laws;

b/ To provide documents related to advertising content upon request by competent state agencies;

c/ To take responsibility before law in case the advertising content does not meet the requirements specified in Article 19 of this Law;

d/ Other obligations as prescribed by law;

dd/ In case of advertising on the cyber environment, to comply with Points a, b, c and d of this Clause, and relevant provisions of Article 23 of this Law.

3. Influencers defined in the law on protection of consumer rights shall, when conveying advertisements, perform the obligations specified in Clause 2 of this Article, and the following obligations:

a/ To verify the credibility of advertisers; and review documents related to the to-be-advertised products, goods and services; to refrain from introducing products, goods or services they have yet to personally use or clearly understand;

b/ To make notification of advertising activities immediately before and during the carrying out of advertisement activities.”.

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

“7. Objects of advertisement.”.

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

“1a. It is required to preserve the purity of the Vietnamese language used in advertisements, which must be clear and easy to understand, and accurately convey the intended message.”.

12. To amend and supplement Article 19 as follows:

“Article 19. Requirements on advertising content

1. Advertising content must be truthful, accurate and clear without causing misunderstanding about the properties, quality, utilities and effects of products, goods and services.

2. In case an advertisement is required to include notes, recommendations or warnings, such information must be complete, clear and accessible; the text shall be written in a color that contrasts with the background and in a font size not smaller than the font size of the text in the advertisement; the notes, recommendations and warnings shall be read aloud fully and clearly, with a speed and volume equivalent to those of other contents in the same advertisement.

3. Content not regarded as advertising includes:

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

b/ Content required to be presented on products’ labels or packaging in accordance with the law on goods’ labels, except functional foods and foods for special dietary use, which must comply with the law on food safety; content that must be disclosed and provided to customers and consumers; content regarding information, education and communication about the prevention and control of harmful effects of the goods; and other content required or obligated to be disclosed in accordance with relevant laws.

4. The Government shall specify the list of special products, goods and services and requirements on advertising content 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 in accordance with law when advertising product and goods 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 valid documents or information certifying that such products, goods or services are permitted for circulation or provision in Vietnam in accordance with law, except advertising the special products, goods or services that are not listed as those subject to licensing, and meet the following conditions:

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

b/ Having a template for notification of cosmetic products in accordance with law when advertising cosmetics;

c/ Having a circulation registration certificate in accordance with law when advertising insecticidal and antibacterial preparations for domestic and medical use;

d/ Complying with this Law and having registered product declarations or made self-declaration of products in accordance with the law on food safety when advertising food, food additives and nutritional products for children of up to 36 months old;

dd/ Having a license to practice medical examination and treatment or a medical examination and treatment operation license in accordance with the law on medical examination and treatment when advertising medical examination and treatment services;

e/ Having a circulation code or an import license, for imported medical devices, in accordance with law when advertising medical devices, except medical devices for which circulation codes or import licenses are not required;

g/ Having a pesticide registration certificate in accordance with the law on plant protection and quarantine when advertising pesticides;

h/ Having a certificate of free circulation and product specification sheet in accordance with the law on animal health when advertising veterinary medicines;

i/ Having a decision on recognition for circulation of fertilizers in Vietnam when advertising fertilizers; having a decision on recognition for circulation, a decision on exceptional recognition for circulation, an information declaration sheet, for plant varieties self-declared for circulation, or a license for import of plant varieties issued by state agencies when advertising plant varieties; having disclosed information about animal feed, products for disposal of livestock production wastes in accordance with the law on livestock production when advertising animal feed and products for disposal of livestock production wastes.”.

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; it is required to have a mark to distinguish advertising content 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 a free-to-air broadcast channel must not exceed 10% of the total daily broadcast duration of the channel, except advertising channels; it is required to have a mark to distinguish advertising content from other contents.

2. The advertisement duration on a pay TV channel must not exceed 5% of the total daily broadcast duration of the channel, except advertising channels; it is required to have a mark to distinguish advertising content from other contents.”;

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

“4. Entertainment programs and films with a duration shorter than 5 minutes may not contain any advertising break. Each entertainment program or film with a duration of between full 5 minutes and below 15 minutes may include one advertising break; those with a duration of 15 minutes or longer may include one additional advertising break for every full 15-minute segment, with each break not exceeding 5 minutes.

5. When presenting advertisements together with official information content in the form of running texts or moving images, the advertising area must not exceed 10% of the total screen area; it is required to have a mark to distinguish advertising content from other contents, and advertising content must not affect main content of the programs. This form of advertising is not included in the advertisement duration on television.

When presenting advertisements together with official information content in the form of running texts, advertisements must be shown at the bottom edge of the screen.

5a. Television agencies and radio and television service providers may relay and broadcast live international events and foreign sports programs that already contain advertising information or images of products, goods or services as specified in Article 7 of this Law when the following conditions are fully met:

a/ They hold the rights for live broadcast in Vietnam;

b/ They neither enter into advertising contracts for such products, goods or services nor have any direct interests relating to the appearance of such advertising content;

c/ They do not have the right to control over the advertising content and are technically incapable of blurring or obscuring advertising content during the live broadcasts; they shall give warnings about inappropriate advertising content in Vietnamese and English and request competent state agencies and related agencies and organizations to take measures to prevent Internet users in Vietnam from accessing websites providing such products, goods or services.

When rebroadcasting, it is required to apply technical measures to blur or obscure inappropriate advertising content; in case of impossibility to apply such technical measures, it is required to display warnings about inappropriate advertising content in Vietnamese and English and request competent state agencies and related agencies and organizations to take measures to prevent Internet users in Vietnam from accessing websites providing such products, goods or services;

d/ Advertising content is not presented in Vietnamese.

6. Radio and television agencies wishing to establish an advertising channel shall obtain a license from a competent state agency. The Government shall specify dossiers, order and procedures for licensing advertising channels.”.

16. To amend and supplement Article 23 as follows:

“Article 23. Online advertising

1. Online advertising includes advertising on electronic newspapers, websites, social media platforms, online applications, and Internet-connected digital platforms.

2. Online advertising must comply with the following regulations:

a/ Bearing a clear identification mark in the form of numerals, letters, symbols, images or sounds to distinguish advertising content from non-advertising content;

b/ For non-fixed-position advertisements, there must be features or easily recognizable icons that allow advertisement recipients to disable advertisements, report violations to service providers, and refuse to view inappropriate advertising content;

c/ Advertisements containing hyperlinks must ensure that the linked content complies with law; advertising service providers and advertisement publishers shall take measures to examine and supervise the linked content;

d/ Social media service providers shall provide users with properties that help distinguish advertising content from other contents;

dd/ Social media service users shall, when delivering advertisements, include a mark to distinguish advertising or sponsored contents from other contents they provide.

3. Advertisers, advertising service providers, advertisement publishers and advertisement conveyors engaged in online advertising shall exercise the rights and fulfil the obligations specified in Articles 12, 13, 14 and 15a of this Law, and shall:

a/ Comply with the laws on advertising, cybersecurity, protection of personal data, protection of consumer rights, protection of children, management, provision and use of Internet services and cyber information; register, declare and pay tax for the revenue generated from advertising services in accordance with the tax laws;

b/ Not place advertisements within, next to, immediately after, or immediately before content that violate laws; not advertise on websites, social media platforms, online applications or digital platforms that violate laws;

c/ Not cooperate in advertising with organizations, individuals, websites, social media platforms, online applications, digital platforms or social media accounts, content channels or community pages or groups on social media platforms that have been publicly announced by competent state agencies as violating law;

d/ Block or remove violating information upon request by competent state agencies; and provide information on organizations and individuals related to online advertising activities that show signs of violations upon request of competent state agencies;

dd/ Abide by administrative sanctioning measures and other handling measures of competent agencies or persons when violating the law on advertising.

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

a/ To require online advertising service providers to comply with Point b, Clause 3 of this Article;

b/ To require online advertising service providers to apply technical solutions to enable advertisers and advertisement publishers in Vietnam to control advertisements and remove violating advertisements from their service provision systems.

5. Online advertising service providers have the following responsibilities:

a/ To notify their contact information to competent state agencies;

b/ To verify the identity of advertisers and require them to provide business registration certificates or other valid legal documents;

c/ To archive information and dossiers on advertising activities and provide information upon request by competent state agencies;

d/ To apply technical solutions to control advertisements and remove violating advertisements from their service provision systems;

dd/ To archive information on rules of advertising distribution methods and algorithms used for publishing online advertisements;

e/ To establish mechanisms to receive and settle complaints about online advertising services;

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

h/ To submit annual reports and ad hoc reports upon request by competent state aagencies.

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

7. Organizations and individuals engaged in online advertising activities must block or remove violating advertisements within 24 hours upon request by competent state agencies. In case these entities fail to follow request, competent state agencies shall deploy technical measures to block violating advertisements and apply handling measures in accordance with law. Telecommunications enterprises and Internet service providers shall block violating advertisements upon request by competent state agencies.

8. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

17. To amend and supplement Article 26 as follows:

“Article 26. Advertisements in audio recordings, video recordings and films

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

2. Advertisements in films must comply with the Government’s regulations.”.

18. To amend and supplement Article 28 as follows:

“Article 28. Advertisements on advertising screens

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

2. Advertisements on outdoor advertising screens must meet the following requirements:

a/ Not using sounds;

b/ Not letting lighting from advertising screens impact traffic safety.

3. Owners or lawful users of advertising screen shall apply technical measures to prevent and stop cyberattacks, ensuring cybersecurity for advertising screens.

4. The management of advertisements on Internet-connected advertising screens must comply with the Government’s regulations.”.

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

“1. Organizations and individuals wishing to advertise on billboards or banners shall send a dossier of advertisement notification to local competent state agencies in charge of advertising before carrying out advertising activities.”.

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

“5. Organizations and individuals owning advertising works shall take responsibility for the quality, and fire and explosion prevention and control of signboards and advertising boards; repair or replace outdoor signboards and advertising screens or dismantle advertisements in case of damage or upon expiration of advertising contracts; and, in case of damage, pay compensation and bear other legal liabilities in accordance with law.”.

21. To amend and supplement Clause 2, and add Clause 3 below 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 Goverment shall specify the advertising of the national brand on commune-level public-addressing systems.”.

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

“c/ Organizations or individuals wishing to carry out advertising in the form of advertising procession shall send notification dossiers to local competent state agencies in charge of advertising before carrying out advertising activities.

The Government shall assign competent agencies or persons to specify dossiers and procedures for consideration for grant of permission to carry out advertising in the form of advertising procession.”.

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. A master plan on outdoor advertising must specify the designs, sizes, materials and quantities of advertisements, and advertising media along roads and in urban areas; allocate and designate zones for visual propaganda and outdoor advertising activities in central urban areas; set orientations for outdoor advertising development; and regulate classified advertisements.”;

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

“b/ Avoidance of contradiction or conflict with higher-level master plans; assurance of consistency and synchronization between master plans and socio-economic development strategies and plans; conformity with urban and rural master plans; and assurance of traffic order and safety, social order and safety and urban aesthetics;

c/ Assurance of scientificity, application of interconnected modern technology, predictability, feasibility, cost-efficiency, environmental protection, and efficient use of resources; assurance of objectivity, publicity and transparency;

d/ Assurance of consistency and harmony among localities in adjacent areas;

dd/ Prioritization of existing advertising locations in accordance with current laws; if the implementation or adjustment of a master plan causes damage to organizations and individuals, the master plan-approving agency shall compensate in accordance with law;”;

c/ To add Clause 2a below Clause 2, and amend and supplement Clause 3, as follows:

“2a. The use of land for construction of advertising works must comply with the land law.

3. The Government shall specify dossiers and order of formulation, approval, implementation and adjustment of master plans on outdoor advertising.”.

24. To amend and supplement Article 38 as follows:

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

1. Provincial-level People’s Committees shall:

a/ Formulate, adjust and approve local master plans on outdoor advertising for periods in conformity with local socio-economic development;

b/ Allocate funds and resources for implementation of master plans;

c/ Publicly announce the content of master plans in the forms specified by the planning law;

d/ Guide, urge, and periodically examine and evaluate the implementation of master plans on outdoor advertising;

dd/ Approve plans on land use for multiple purposes, for land areas planned for outdoor advertising.

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

3. The Ministry of Construction shall coordinate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and related ministries in guiding localities to formulate their master plans on advertising 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 paragraph “the location lease contract between the project owner of the advertising work and the owner or lawful user, for advertising works attached to existing construction works, or the notice of bid winning, for advertising locations subject to bidding as prescribed in the relevant master plan;” at Point c, Clause 3 of Article 31.

Article 2. To amend and supplement a number of articles of Commercial Law No. 36/2005/QH11, which has 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. For specific commercial activities specified in other laws, such other laws shall apply. Commercial advertising activities must comply with the law on advertising.”.

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

Article 3. Implementation provisions

1. This Law takes effect on January 1, 2026, except the cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. Cases in which organizations or individuals have carried out procedures for notification of billboard and banner advertisements or advertising procession but not yet obtained approval of competent state agencies in charge of advertising at the effective date of this Law must comply with Law No. 16/2012/QH13 on Advertising, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 35/2018/QH14, Law No. 42/2024/QH15 and Law No. 47/2024/QH15.

This Law was passed on June 16, 2025, by the 15^th National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its 9^th session.-

Chairman of the National Assembly
TRAN THANH MAN