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THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY |
THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM |
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Law No. 75/2025/QH15 |
Hanoi, June 16, 2025 |
AMENDMENTS TO CERTAIN ARTICLES OF THE LAW ON ADVERTISING
Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam amended by the Resolution No. 203/2025/QH15;
The National Assembly hereby promulgates a Law on amendments to certain Articles of the Law on Advertising No. 16/2012/QH13 amended by the Law No. 35/2018/QH14, Law No. 42/2024/QH15 and Law No. 47/2024/QH15.
Article 1. Amendments to certain Articles of the Law on Advertising
1. Several clauses of Article 2 are amended as follows:
a) Clause 1 is amended as follows:
“1. “advertising” means the employment of persons or media in order to introduce to the advertisement recipients products, goods and services, organizations and individuals producing or trading in such products, goods and services.”;
b) Clause 4 is amended as follows:
“4. “advertising promotion” means activities of seeking and boosting the opportunity to sign advertising contracts.”;
c) Clauses 6, 7, 8 and 9 are amended 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 means of advertising (hereinafter referred to as “advertiser or means of advertising”) under their management so as to introduce advertisements. Advertisement publishers include press agencies, publishers, website owners, organizers of cultural or sports programs and other organizations and individuals employing advertisers or means of advertising.
8. “advertisement conveyor” means a person who directly advertises, recommends or confirms products, goods and services online or directly advertises such products, goods and services by wearing, hanging, sticking, drawing or using them for profit-making purposes or by other forms as prescribed by the Government.
9. “advertisement recipient” means a person that receives information from advertisements via advertisers or means of advertising.”;
d) Clause 14 and clause 15 is added after clause 13 as follows:
“14. “cross-border advertising service provision in Vietnam” means an overseas organization or individual using service provision equipment systems located outside the territory of Vietnam to provide advertising services to users in Vietnam via the Internet.
15. “advertising object” means an item designed, placed or used for the purpose of conveying advertising information.”.
2. Article 4 is amended as follows:
“Article 4. State management of advertising activities
1. Contents of the state management of advertising activities:
a) Formulating, promulgating or submitting to competent agencies and persons for promulgation, and organizing the implementation of legislative documents on advertising; approving the code of professional conduct in advertising activities;
b) Formulating, and organizing the implementation of, strategies and planning for outdoor advertising, plans and policies for 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 activities;
dd) Organizing training and retraining of human resources for advertising activities;
e) Organizing commendation work in advertising activities;
g) Organizing international cooperation in the field of advertising;
h) Carrying out inspection and examination, settling petitions, feedback, complaints and denunciations and handling violations that arise from advertising activities.
2. Responsibility for state management of advertising:
a) The Government shall perform uniform state management of advertising activities;
b) The Government shall assign Ministries and ministerial agencies to preside over and cooperate in the state management of advertising activities;
c) People’s Committees at all levels shall perform state management of advertising in their localities within their competence.”.
3. Article 6 is amended as follows:
“Article 6. Advertising contracts
The cooperation among the subjects in advertising activities must be realized under advertising contracts as prescribed by law.”.
4. Several clauses of Article 8 are amended as follows:
a) Clause 3 is amended as follows:
“3. Carrying out advertising in a manner that is contrary to historical traditions, culture and social ethics.”;
b) Clause 10 is amended as follows:
“10. Advertising by way of comparing one’s products, goods and services to those of products, goods and services of the same kind of another organization or individual without lawful documentary evidence.”.
5. Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 9 are amended as follows:
“2. The Advertisement Appraisal Council is composed of representatives from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, representatives of agencies, organizations and experts in related fields, and representatives of professional advertising organizations.
3. The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall elaborate this Article.”.
6. Article 11 is amended as follows:
“Article 11. Handling violations arising from advertising activities
1. Any organization or individual committing violations of this Law or other relevant laws shall, depending on the nature and severity of their violations, be disciplined, face a penalty for administrative violations or a criminal prosecution; ay compensation for the damage (if any) as prescribed by law.
2. Competent agencies and persons shall take responsibility for their handling decisions; pay compensation for the damage caused by their incorrect decisions as prescribed by law.”.
7. Point b clause 2 of Article 13 is amended as follows:
“b) Examine the documents related to the advertising conditions of the organizations, individuals, products, goods and services to be advertised, and implement the relevant procedures under the advertising contracts;”.
8. Clause 4 of Article 14 is amended as follows:
“4. Perform signed advertising contracts and take direct responsibility for advertisements put on advertisers or means of advertising under their management.”.
9. Article 15a is added after Article 15 as follows:
“Article 15a. Rights and obligations of advertisement conveyors
1. An advertisement conveyor has the right to:
a) Be provided with accurate, adequate and truthful information by advertisers about the organizations, individuals, products, goods and services to be advertised and documents relating to the advertising conditions;
b) Other rights as prescribed by law.
2. An advertisement conveyor has the obligation to:
a) Comply with the law on protection of consumer rights and other laws on provision of information relating to features and quality of products, goods, and services when conducting advertising; fulfill tax obligations when revenue comes from advertising services in accordance with the law on taxation revenue;
b) Provide documents relating to the advertisement contents at the request of competent state agencies;
c) Take legal responsibility in case the advertisement contents fail to meet the requirements set out under Article 19 of this Law;
d) Perform other obligations as per law;
dd) Online advertisement conveyors shall comply with points a, b, c, d of this clause and other relevant regulations enshrined in Article 23 of this Law.
3. An influencer as defined in the law on protection of consumer rights shall, upon conveying advertisements, have the obligations specified in clause 2 of this Article and the following obligations:
a) Verify the credibility of advertisers; review documents relating to the advertised products, goods and services; in case he/she has not used or clearly understood the products, goods, or services, he/she must not introduce them;
b) Give a notice of advertising before and during advertising activities.”.
10. Clauses 7 of Article 17 is amended as follows: “7. Advertising objects.”.
11. Clause 1a is added after clause 1 of Article 18 as follows:
“1a. Vietnamese words in advertisements must be such that the purity of Vietnamese language is preserved, be clear and understandable, and precisely convey the intended content.”.
12. Article 19 is amended as follows:
“Article 19. Requirements for advertisement contents
1. Advertisement contents must be truthful, precise and clear; not cause misunderstanding about the features, quality, uses or effects of products, goods and services.
2. Where an advertisement is required to contain annotations, recommendations or warnings, such must be fully and clearly displayed and easily accessible; 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 or warnings must be fully and clearly spoken at a speed and volume equivalent to those of other contents in the same advertisement.
3. Advertising contents shall not comprise:
a) Materials, information, images describing products, goods, services, and products, goods provided by producers and traders for promotional activities, display, introduction of goods, services, and trade fairs or exhibitions, except for functional foods and foods for special dietary uses which must comply with the law on food safety;
b) Contents that must be displayed on goods labels or product packaging as prescribed by the law on goods labeling, except for functional foods and foods for special dietary uses which must comply with the law on food safety; contents that must be publicly disclosed and provided to customers and consumers; information, education, and communication contents regarding prevention and control of harmful effects of goods; contents subject to disclosure as prescribed by relevant laws.
4. The Government shall stipulate a List of special products, goods and services, and requirements for special product, goods and service advertisement contents.”.
13. Several clauses of Article 20 are amended as follows:
a) Clause 1 is amended as follows:
“1. Having a business registration certificate as prescribed by law when advertising the trading of goods, products and services.”;
b) Clause 4 is amended as follows:
“4. When advertising special products, goods, and services, there must be documents or information certifying that such products, goods, and services are permitted for circulation or implementation in Vietnam and unexpired in accordance with law, unless the special products, goods, and services are not subject to licensing, and the following conditions must be met:
a) Complying with the law on pharmacy when advertising drugs;
b) Having a notification of cosmetic product as required by the law when advertising cosmetics;
c) Having a marketing authorization as prescribed by law when advertising pesticides or disinfectants for domestic and medical use;
d) Meeting the conditions set out under this Law and submitting the registration of product disclosure or product self-declaration as per the law on food safety when advertising foods, food additives, and nutritional products for children up to 36 months of age;
dd) Having a license to practice medicine or a license to provide medical services in accordance with the law on medical examination and treatment when advertising medical examination and treatment services;
e) Having a marketing authorization number or import license for imported medical devices in accordance with law, except medical devices to which marketing authorization number or import license is not required to be issued, when advertising medical devices;
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 marketing authorization of veterinary medicine and a product property summary sheet as prescribed by the law on veterinary medicine when advertising veterinary medicines;
i) Having a recognition of fertilizer for circulation in Vietnam when advertising fertilizers; having a decision recognizing circulation, a decision recognizing conditional circulation, a declaration of information about plant varieties subject to self-declaration or a plant variety import license granted by competent state agencies when advertising plant varieties; having information on animal feeds and livestock waste treatment products declared as prescribed by the law on animal husbandry when advertising animal feeds and livestock waste treatment products.”.
14. Clause 1 of Article 21 is amended 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; there must be a sign distinguishing advertisement contents from other contents.”.
15. Several clauses of Article 22 are amended as follows:
a) Clauses 1 and 2 are amended as follows:
“1. The advertisement duration on programs broadcast by free-to-air method must not exceed 10% of the total broadcast duration in a day of each channel, except for 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 for the advertisement duration on advertising channels and programs; there must be a sign distinguishing advertisement contents from other contents.”;
b) Clauses 4, 5 and 6 are amended and clause 5a is added after clause 5 as follows:
“4. Each entertainment show or film with a duration of less than 05 minutes must not be interrupted for advertising. Each entertainment show or film with a duration from 05 minutes to less than 15 minutes may be interrupted once for advertising; if the duration is 15 minutes or longer, it may be interrupted one more time every 15 additional minutes for advertising, each time must not exceed 05 minutes.
5. For an advertisement displayed together with the official information content in the form of running text or a series of animated pictures, the advertisement area must not exceed 10% of the screen area; there must be a sign distinguishing the advertisement contents from other contents and the advertisement must not affect the main contents of the show. This form of advertising is not included in the advertisement duration of the video newspaper.
When presenting an advertisement in the form of running text, the advertisement must appear at the bottom edge of the screen.
5a. Video newspapers agencies and broadcasting service providers are permitted 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 if they meet the following conditions:
a) They possess the live broadcasting rights for live transmission in Vietnam;
b) They do not conclude any advertising contracts for such products, goods, or services; have no direct interest related to the appearance of such advertisement contents;
c) They do not have the right to control the advertisement content and are unable to take technical measures to blur such advertisement contents during live rebroadcasting; must issue a warning in both Vietnamese and English that the advertisement content is inappropriate and request the competent state agency and related agencies and organizations to implement measures to prevent Internet users in Vietnam from accessing the websites providing these products, goods, or services.
In the case of rebroadcasting the program, it is required to take technical measures to blur inappropriate advertisement contents; in case of being unable to take such technical measures, a warning in both Vietnamese and English that the advertisement content is inappropriate must be issued and the competent state agency and related agencies and organizations are requested to implement measures to prevent Internet users in Vietnam from accessing the websites providing these products, goods, or services;
d) The advertisement content must not be presented in Vietnamese.
6. Any audio or video newspapers agency that wishes to produce an advertising channel or program shall obtain a license from the competent regulatory agency. The Government shall elaborate on the application dossier, sequence and procedures for licensing the production of advertising channels or programs.”.
16. Article 23 is amended 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 regulations:
a) There must be clear identification signs in the form of numerals, letters, symbols, images, or sounds to distinguish advertisement contents from other non-advertisement content;
b) For unfixed advertisements, there must be recognizable features or icons allowing advertisement recipients to disable the advertisements, report violating advertisement contents to the service provider, and reject inappropriate advertisement contents;
c) For advertisements containing hyperlinks to other contents, the linked contents must comply with the law; advertising service providers and advertisement publishers must work out measures to inspect and monitor the linked contents;
d) Organizations and enterprises providing social network services must provide users with features to distinguish advertisement contents from other contents;
dd) Upon conducing advertising, users of social network services must show the signs which 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 have the rights and obligations prescribed in Articles 12, 13, 14, and 15a of this Law and must:
a) Comply with regulations of the law on advertising, cybersecurity, personal data protection, protection of consumer rights, child protection, and management, provision, and use of Internet services and online information; register tax, declare, and pay taxes for revenue generated from advertising services in accordance with law on taxation;
b) Not place advertisements within, next to, immediately before or after content that violates the law; not advertise on websites, social networks, online applications, or digital platforms that violate the law;
c) Not cooperate 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 declared by competent state agencies as violating the law;
d) Block or remove information that violates the law at the request of competent state agencies; provide information about organizations and individuals involved in online advertising activities showing signs of violating the law at the request of competent state agencies;
dd) Be subject to measures for imposition of administrative penalties and other handling measures imposed by competent agencies or persons when violating the advertising law.
4. Upon concluding contracts with online advertising service providers, advertisers, advertisement publishers and advertisement conveyors have the following rights and obligations:
a) Request advertising service providers to comply with point b clause 3 of this Article;
b) Request advertising service providers to implement technical solutions so as for 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) Archive information and dossiers on advertising activities and provide information at the request of competent state agencies;
d) Implement technical solutions to monitor and remove advertisements that violate the law from the service provision system;
dd) Archive 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 submit ad hoc reports at the request of 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 24 hours from the time competent state agencies so request. In case of failure to comply 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 block violating advertisements at the request of competent state agencies.
8. The Government shall elaborate this Article.”.
17. Article 26 is amended as follows:
“Article 26. Advertisements in audio and video records, advertisements in film contents
1. The advertisement duration in an audio or video record of a cultural, art or cinematographic program or audio or video record being book substitute or book illustration must not exceed 5% of the program duration, except for advertisements broadcast on radio and television newspapers.
2. Advertisements in film contents shall comply with regulations prescribed by the Government.”.
18. Article 28 is amended 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 facilities, and local outdoor advertising planning.
2. Advertising on an outdoor advertising screen must satisfy with the following requirements:
a) No sound is used;
b) The brightness of the advertising screen must not affect traffic safety.
3. The owner or lawful user of the screen shall apply 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 adhere to the regulations prescribed by the Government.”.
19. Clause 1 of Article 30 is amended as follows:
“1. Any organization or individual wishing to advertise on a billboard or banner shall send a advertisement notification dossier to the competent state agency in charge of advertising of the locality before implementation.”.
20. Clause 5 is added after clause 4 of Article 31 as follows:
“5. Organizations and individuals owning advertising works shall be responsible for their 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 provided and other legal responsibilities must be assumed as per law.”.
21. Clause 2 is amended and clause 3 is added after clause 2 of Article 33 as follows:
“2. It is prohibited to advertise by loudspeakers mounted on means of transport and other movable means in urban areas.
3. The Government shall stipulate the advertising of the National Brand on commune-level radio broadcasting stations.”.
22. Point c clause 1 of Article 36 is amended as follows:
“c) An organization or individual that wishes to organize an advertising performer team shall send a notification dossier to the competent state agency in charge of advertising of the locality before the advertising.
The Government shall assign competent agencies or persons to stipulate the dossiers and procedures for considering the organization of an advertising performer team.”.
23. Several clauses of Article 37 are amended as follows:
a) Clause 1 is amended as follows:
“1. The outdoor advertising planning must specify: designs, size, materials and quantity, means of advertising along road routes; in urban areas; the allocation and zoning of locations for visual propaganda activities and outdoor advertising in the central urban areas; orientations for development of outdoor advertising activities; classified advertising.”;
b) Points b, c, d and dd of clause 2 are amended as follows:
“b) Not contradicting or conflicting with higher-level planning; ensuring consistency and synchronism between the advertising planning and socio-economic development strategies and plans; conforming to urban and rural planning; ensuring traffic order and safety, social order and safety, and urban scenery;
c) Ensuring scientific soundness, application of modern technology, interoperability, predictability, feasibility, cost-effectiveness, environmental protection and efficient use of national resources; ensuring objectivity, publicity, and transparency;
d) Ensuring consistency and harmony among the localities in bordering areas;
dd) Inheriting existing advertising locations in accordance with applicable regulations; if the implementation or adjustment of the planning causes damage to organizations and individuals, the planning approving authority shall provide compensation in accordance with law;”;
c) Clause 2a is added after clause 2 and clause 3 is amended as follows:
“2a. The use of land for advertising works shall comply with the land law.
3. The Government shall stipulate the applications and procedures for formulating, approving, implementing and adjusting outdoor advertising planning.”.
24. Article 38 is amended as follows:
“Article 38. Responsibilities for formulating and directing the implementation of outdoor advertising planning
1. Every provincial People’s Committee shall:
a) Formulate, adjust and approve local outdoor advertising planning in stages suitable for the local socio-economic development;
b) Allocate funds and resources for the implementation of the planning;
c) Make contents of the planning publicly available in the forms prescribed by the planning law;
d) Provide guidance on, expedite, inspect and periodically evaluate the implementation of the outdoor advertising planning;
dd) Approve multi-purpose land use plans for land designated for locations of the outdoor advertising planning.
2. The Minister of Construction shall promulgate a technical regulation on outdoor advertising facilities.
3. The Minister of Construction shall cooperate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and related ministries in instructing localities to formulate their advertising planning according to the technical regulations promulgated by the Minister of Construction.”.
25. Clause 2 of Article 2, Article 5, clause 13 of Article 8, clause 5 of Article 16, clause 7 and clause 8 of Article 22, clause 2 of Article 29, point b clause 3 of Article 31, point c clause 1 of Article 33 are repealed.
26. The passage “hợp đồng thuê địa điểm giữa chủ đầu tư xây dựng công trình quảng cáo với chủ sở hữu hoặc chủ sử dụng hợp pháp đối với công trình quảng cáo gắn với công trình xây dựng có sẵn hoặc văn bản thông báo kết quả trúng thầu đối với trường hợp địa điểm quảng cáo trong quy hoạch phải tổ chức đấu thầu;” (“the location lease contract between the investor in the advertising work and the lawful owner or user, for advertising work attached to existing work, or the bid winning notice, for advertising locations subject to bidding included in the planning;”) is removed from point c clause 3 of Article 31.
Article 2. Amendments to certain Articles of the Commercial Law No. 36/2005/QH11 amended by the Law No. 36/2005/QH11, Law No. 05/2017/QH14 and Law No. 44/2019/QH14
1. Clause 2 Article 4 of the Commercial Law is amended as follows:
“2. In the case of specialized commercial activities provided for in other laws, the provisions of such other laws shall apply. Commercial advertising activities shall comply with the provisions of the law on advertising.”.
2. Section 2 Chapter IV of the Commercial Law is repealed.
Article 3. Implementation clause
1. This Law comes into force from January 01, 2026, except the case specified in clause 2 of this Article.
2. If any organization or individual has submitted a notification of advertisement on a billboard or banner or notification of advertising performer team but has not received opinions from a competent state agency in charge of advertising by the effective date of this Law, they shall comply with the regulations enshrined in the Law on Advertising No. 16/2012/QH13 amended by the Law No. 35/2018/QH14, Law No. 42/2024/QH15 and Law No. 47/2024/QH15.
This Law was adopted by the 15th National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on this 16th of June, 2025 during its 9th session.
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CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY Tran Thanh Man |
