Circular No. 01/2025/TT-BNG detailing certain provisions of the Law on Archives within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

CIRCULAR

Detailed regulations on some provisions of the Law on Archives within the scope of managementof the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On the basis of The Law on Archives No. 33/2024/QH15 dated June 21, 2024;

Pursuant to the State Secrets Protection Law No. 29/2018/QH14 dated November 15, 2018;

Pursuant to Decision No. 2109/QĐ-TTg dated September 21, 2025 of the Prime Minister approving the plan to reduce and simplify administrative procedures related to business operations under the management of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2025; of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

At the proposal of the Director of the Office of the Ministry;

The Minister of Foreign Affairs issues this Circular detailing certain provisions of the Law on Archives within the scope of management of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular details Clause 5 Article 15, Clause 4 Article 24, Clause 5 Article 36, and Clause 3 Article 59 of the Law on Archives, including the following contents:

1. Regulations on archives within the scope of management of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

2. Retention period for diplomatic sector files and records.

3. Taking archival materials out of the Ministry's Archive for use domestically and abroad.

4. Principles for submission, preservation, utilization, and destruction of foreign affairs ministry archival materials.

Article 2. Applicability

1. Individuals and units under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: including units within the organizational structure as prescribed by the Government Decree stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; public service units under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs established pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision; Party and Mass Organizations Office; and overseas representative offices of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (hereinafter referred to as Representative Offices).

2. Agencies, organizations, and individuals related thereto.

Article 3. Explanation of Terms

In this Circular, the following terms are understood as follows:

1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archive (referred to as the Ministry Archive) is the Ministry Office, with the function of assisting the Minister of Foreign Affairs in state management of archiving work within the scope of management of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and organizing the implementation of archival business activities for foreign affairs ministry archival materials.

2. Taking archival materials out of the archive refers to the act of removing archival materials being preserved at the Ministry Archive out of the Ministry Archive for domestic and international use.

3. The Ministry Archive is the place for storing, preserving, organizing the use, and promoting the value of archival materials and implementing archival business activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as prescribed by this Circular and relevant laws concerning state secrets protection and archiving.

PART II

REGULATIONS ON ARCHIVING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF MANAGEMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Article 4. Submission of files and records to the Ministry Archive

1. Files and records submitted to the Ministry Archive must meet the requirements stipulated by the Law on Archives and related laws, ensuring completeness, safety, confidentiality, continuity, and systematic organization.

2. Sources of submission to the Ministry Archive include:

a) Domestic units under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

b) Representative Offices.

3. Components of files and records submitted to the Ministry Archive:

a) For domestic units:

All archival materials with value formed during the operation of the units, regardless of the time of formation, storage location, recording technology, and carrier material.

b) For Representative Offices:

(i) Financial, construction investment, office premises, accounting files and records shall be submitted to the Financial Management Bureau in accordance with laws on financial management, construction investment, and accounting. The Financial Management Bureau will provide specific guidance on submitting these documents in accordance with relevant laws.

(ii) Consular files and records shall be submitted to the Consular Bureau in accordance with laws on consular affairs. The Consular Bureau will provide specific guidance on submitting these documents in accordance with relevant laws.

(iii) Important incoming and outgoing diplomatic notes concerning foreign relations, national security, defense, territorial boundaries, national sovereignty, ethnicity, religion, human rights; original letters from leaders of countries and international organizations of strategic importance sent to high-level leaders of the Communist Party and State of Vietnam (original or certified true copy), shall be directly submitted to the Ministry Archive.

(iv) Party work files and records shall be handled according to the regulations of the competent Party authority and submitted to the Party Committee Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

(v) The management and submission of secret telegrams shall be carried out in accordance with the specialized regulations of the Cryptographic Department.

(vi) Annual reports, important event reports, and important meeting minutes shall be submitted to the unit responsible for the area/Representative Office.

4. The deadline for submitting files and records to the Ministry Archive shall be implemented in accordance with Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 17 of the Law on Archives.

5. In cases where the source of submission ceases operations, dissolves, or reorganizes as provided for in Clause 2 of this Article, the submission of files and records shall be carried out as follows:

a) All files and records must be collected, classified, appraised for value, and statistically recorded according to the unit's archival collection, ensuring the principle that the archival collection is not dispersed.

b) Completed work-related files and records shall be submitted to the Ministry Archive. Uncompleted work-related files and records shall be handed over to the unit assigned to take over the responsibilities of the dissolved or reorganized unit.

Article 5. Statistics and preservation of archival documents

1. Units under the management authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall regularly conduct annual statistics on file catalogs and archival documents and submit them to the Ministry's Archives.

a) The reporting period for statistical purposes runs from January 1 of the reporting year to December 31 of the reporting year.

b) The deadline for reporting is before February 15 of the following year of the reporting year.

c) The implementation of statistical reports must comply with legal regulations on statistics, archives, and state secrets protection.

2. The Ministry's Archives shall regularly conduct annual statistical reports on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' archival work and submit them to the Cadre and Civil Servant Department before February 28 to compile internal affairs sector reports to be submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs before March 15 of the following year of the reporting year.

3. Annually, the Ministry's Archives shall compile the file catalogs and archival documents as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article, establish a list of permanent archival documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (excluding documents containing state secrets) to report to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

4. Archival documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must be securely preserved according to the provisions of Clause 1 and 3 of Article 20 of the Archives Law.

5. For archival documents of special value and permanent archival documents at risk of damage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, preventive storage must be implemented according to the provisions of Article 22 of the Archives Law on preventive storage.

6. The database of archival documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must be secured and information protected according to legal regulations on cybersecurity, data, archives, state secrets protection, and related regulations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Article 6. Utilization and enhancement of the value of archival documents

1. Forms of utilizing archival documents include: serving readers using archival documents and issuing copies of archival documents.

2. Responsibilities of agencies, organizations, and individuals when accessing and utilizing archival documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

a) Comply with the provisions of Clause 2 of Article 26 of the Archives Law.

b) Use information in archival documents in accordance with the approved purpose.

c) Shall not use archival documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for activities harmful to national interests, ethnic interests, Party and State interests, foreign relations of Vietnam, community interests, rights and legitimate interests of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, agencies, organizations, and individuals.

d) Safeguard and protect documents, preventing damage and loss of documents.

3. The utilization of archival documents containing state secrets shall be carried out in accordance with legal regulations on state secrets protection and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' regulations on confidentiality work.

4. Conditionally accessible archival documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

a) Are archival documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs containing information that if used may adversely affect national interests, ethnic interests, the Party, the State, defense, security, international relations, and the rights and legitimate interests of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as agencies, organizations, and individuals.

b) The Director of the Ministry's Office shall direct the establishment of a list of conditionally accessible archival documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and recommend the Minister of Foreign Affairs to approve the list of conditionally accessible archival documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

5. The Director of the Ministry's Office shall advise the Minister of Foreign Affairs to decide on the authority to review and approve the use of archival documents, including conditionally accessible archival documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for individuals, units, agencies, and organizations both domestically and internationally.

6. Archival documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must be utilized effectively and their value enhanced. The forms and contents of enhancing the value of archival documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are implemented according to the provisions of Articles 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, and 46 of the Archives Law.

Article 7. Destruction of archival materials with expired value

1. The destruction of paper archival materials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Clause 1, Clause 2, Point b Clause 3, Article 16 of the Law on Archives, and in accordance with the guidance of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

2. The destruction of electronic archival materials shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Clause 4, Article 36 of the Law on Archives, in accordance with the guidance of the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Article 17 of this Circular.

3. The destruction of archival materials containing state secrets of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall be carried out in accordance with the laws on protecting state secrets and the regulations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on confidentiality work.

4. The Director of the Ministry's Office advises the Minister of Foreign Affairs to decide on the authority to destroy archival materials with expired value of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Article 8. Responsibilities for management and implementation of archival work

1. The Director of the Ministry's Office advises the Minister of Foreign Affairs on performing the state management function over archival work within the scope of management of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including:

a) Drafting, promulgating, guiding, and organizing the implementation of regulatory documents concerning archival work within the scope of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

b) Organizing propaganda and raising awareness about the protection, preservation, and enhancement of the value of archival materials.

c) Selecting organizations and individuals to provide archival storage services for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' archival materials.

d) Urging and inspecting the implementation of archival systems and regulations, and the submission of archival materials to the Ministry's Archive; compiling statistics and reporting on archival work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

đ) Building specialized archives, backup archives, and being responsible for managing archival materials and archival database.

e) Awarding commendations and disciplinary actions in the implementation of archival work.

g) Cooperating with domestic and international agencies, organizations, and individuals on archival matters.

2. The Director of the Cadre and Civil Servant Department advises the Minister of Foreign Affairs on recruitment, placement, transfer, training, and development of civil servants, officials, and employees engaged in archival work within the scope of management of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

3. The Director of the Cryptographic and Information Technology Bureau collaborates with the Ministry's Office to advise the Minister of Foreign Affairs on building technical infrastructure, applying technology to archival work and digitizing archival materials; building and updating archival databases and data sharing plans in accordance with regulations; building, managing, and operating the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' electronic archive system in accordance with laws on archives, protecting state secrets, and related laws.

4. The Director of the Administrative and Financial Management Bureau advises the Minister of Foreign Affairs on compiling budget requirements and allocating appropriate state budget funds to ensure archival work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in accordance with established standards, norms, and relevant regulations of the State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

5. Heads of units under the management authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organize the implementation of archival work and management of current documents at their units; urge and inspect civil servants, officials, and employees of their units to perform archival tasks in accordance with legal regulations and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' archival regulations; bear responsibility before the Minister of Foreign Affairs for archival work of their units.

6. Staff, civil servants, officials, and employees have the responsibility to establish work files, determine specific retention periods for files and documents; submit files and documents to the Ministry's Archive in accordance with the requirements and deadlines stipulated in this Circular and other relevant regulations.

Chapter III

RETENTION PERIOD FOR FILES AND DOCUMENTS IN THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS SECTOR

Article 9. Retention period for diplomatic records and documents

The retention period for diplomatic records and documents shall be implemented in accordance with Appendix 1 of this Circular.

Article 10. Application of retention periods for diplomatic records and documents

1. The retention period for records and documents is used to determine the retention period for records and documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies and organizations related to diplomatic activities.

2. The retention period for records and documents must not be lower than the retention period specified in Appendix 1 of this Circular.

3. For records and documents formed in the activities of units under the management authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, other agencies, and organizations not covered by this Circular, such units, agencies, and organizations shall apply retention periods equivalent to those corresponding groups of records and documents stipulated in this Circular and relevant specialized laws to determine.

Chapter IV

REMOVING RECORDS FOR USE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Article 11. Authority to decide on removing records for use inside and outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1. For records containing state secrets:

a) The Minister of Foreign Affairs or Deputy Minister authorized has the authority to decide on removing records for use abroad.

b) The Minister of Foreign Affairs or Deputy Minister authorized; the Director of the Ministry's Office or Deputy Director of the Ministry's Office authorized have the authority to decide on removing records for use domestically.

2. For records not containing state secrets:

The person with authority as stipulated in point b, Clause 1 of this Article decides on removing records for use both domestically and abroad.

3. Records not yet due for submission to the Ministry's Archives, currently managed by domestic units and overseas representative offices:

a) For records containing state secrets and those in the restricted access category of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the unit or overseas representative office exchanges in writing with the Ministry's Office and reports to the Ministry's leadership for decision.

b) For records not containing state secrets, the head of the unit or overseas representative office decides according to their authority on allowing removal of records from the unit or overseas representative office for use.

Article 12. Responsibilities of agencies, organizations, and individuals when removing records for use inside and outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1. Removing classified information carriers from the Ministry's Archives for work abroad must be approved by the person with authority as stipulated in point a, Clause 1 of Article 11 of this Circular and reported to the Head of the Delegation.

2. Only those who have been officially approved in writing by the competent authority may remove records from the Ministry's Archives. Only individuals with authority and assigned tasks as prescribed may remove records from the Ministry's Archives for use domestically and abroad.

3. During the period of using records removed from the Ministry's Archives, if any loss or leakage of classified information (for records containing state secrets) or loss is discovered, it must be immediately reported to the Head of the Delegation, the head of the unit, and the Ministry's Archives for appropriate measures to address and mitigate consequences.

4. Safeguarding records during use, preventing loss, damage, unauthorized copying, or illegal disclosure of information from records; using records only for the purpose approved by the competent authority. Do not transfer records or information from records to third parties without authorization.

5. Adhere to legal regulations and this Circular regarding the removal of records from the Ministry's Archives. Comply with legal regulations on protecting state secrets and other relevant provisions.

6. Promptly report any unusual incidents or violations in the use of records to the Ministry's Archives.

Article 13. Procedures and formalities for taking archival materials out of the Ministry's Archive for use within the country and abroad

1. Request to take materials out of the Ministry's Archive for use:

a) Individuals or units that need to take materials out of the Ministry's Archive shall submit a written request to the Ministry's Archive including the following contents: full name, position, working unit; type of material, summary of content, level of confidentiality of the material, state secret storage medium; purpose of use; time, place of work and measures to protect state secrets; usage period.

b) When there is a decision from the authorized person, the Ministry's Archive will notify the individual or unit in writing.

c) Individuals and units using materials when taking them out of the Archive must comply with confidentiality regulations, complete and submit a commitment form (as per Appendix II).

2. Approval to take archival materials out of the Ministry's Archive for use:

a) The Ministry's Archive will check the following contents: degree of confidentiality; conditional access level of the material; purpose of using archival materials to be presented to the authorized person specified in Article 11 of this Circular for decision.

b) The authorized person reviews and approves.

3. Borrowing and returning archival files and materials:

a) Individuals or units borrowing materials to take out of the Ministry's Archive must carry personal identification and an introduction letter from their agency or unit; complete the Borrowing Record of Archival Files and Materials (as per Appendix III) and sign the Register for Borrowing and Returning Archival Files and Materials Containing State Secrets (as per Appendix V) or the Register for Borrowing and Returning Archival Files and Materials Not Containing State Secrets (as per Appendix VI).

b) Individuals and organizations have the responsibility to return the materials fully and intact after the registered usage period. In case of extending the usage period, a written request must be submitted and approved by the competent authority.

c) The Ministry's Archive will inspect the condition of the materials and proceed with the procedures for returning to the Ministry's Storage; complete the Return Record of Archival Files and Materials (as per Appendix IV) and sign the Register for Borrowing and Returning Archival Files and Materials Containing State Secrets (as per Appendix V) or the Register for Borrowing and Returning Archival Files and Materials Not Containing State Secrets (as per Appendix VI).

d) In cases where archival files and materials containing state secrets are stored in a database and managed on computers (with security measures by the Government Cryptographic Board), they must be printed on paper when used or carried, and the procedures and formalities shall be conducted as for paper archival materials.

4. Transporting, receiving, and preserving materials:

Archival files and materials containing state secrets taken out of the storage location must be contained, transported by means and equipment ensuring safety according to laws on protecting state secrets.

CHAPTER V

 COLLECTION, PRESERVATION, USE, AND DESTRUCTION OF DIGITAL ARCHIVAL MATERIALS OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Article 14. Collection of digital archival materials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1. The collection of digital archival materials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall be carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding archival operations for digital archival materials.

2. Online submission:

The online submission of digital archival materials into the Ministry's Archive shall be carried out in cases where the Ministry's Archive and units under the management authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs use a common system or different systems but have solutions for connecting and ensuring information security during data transfer between the two systems.

3. Direct submission:

The direct submission of digital archival materials into the Ministry's Archive shall be carried out in cases where the Ministry's Archive and units under the management authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs use different systems without connection solutions and information security measures during data transfer between the two systems.

4. Units granted access accounts to the System must register for submission and perform submission registration on the System using the provided account at least one (01) month before the deadline for submission of the material.

5. The Ministry's Archive will coordinate with submitting units to review the Index of Submitted Files and Materials, submission time, and data structure of the submitted files and materials.

6. In cases where digital archival materials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contain state secrets, the retention, collection, and submission must be carried out in accordance with laws on protecting state secrets and related laws.

Article 15. Preservation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Digital Archive Materials

1. The preservation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' digital archive materials shall be carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Public Security on the archival business of digital archive materials.

2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' digital archive materials must be preserved safely, ensuring long-term authenticity, integrity of content, accessibility, management, searchability, and compatibility with technological changes, meeting the requirements of laws on information security and cyber security.

3. Digital archive materials must be regularly checked and backed up to ensure safety, integrity, accessibility, and updating of the digital archive material database; classified and stored conveniently but must ensure that the content of the archive materials is not altered.

4. The means for preserving digital archive materials must be stored in an archival environment in accordance with the law on digital archiving.

Article 16. Utilization of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Digital Archive Materials

1. The utilization of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' digital archive materials shall be carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Public Security on the archival business of digital archive materials.

2. Digital archive materials can be utilized through the following forms: reading, providing copies, supplying information from digital archive materials and the digital archive material database of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

3. Digital archive materials can be duplicated in digital format or paper format to provide to users.

4. Users may only perform the forms of utilizing digital archive materials after being granted login account access to the System. Account information includes: full name, civil servant/civilian employee/workforce code or citizen identification code, email or contact phone number, priority status (if applicable), other notes (if applicable).

Article 17. Disposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Digital Archive Materials

1. The disposal of digital archive materials shall be carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Public Security on the archival business of digital archive materials.

2. The disposal of digital archive materials shall be carried out when the digital archive materials have exceeded their retention period or are duplicate.

3. Units shall review files and materials to propose the disposal of digital archive materials that have lost value and establish a list of digital archive materials to be destroyed on the System.

4. The Archives Department shall examine and appraise the list of digital archive materials that have lost value and need to be destroyed and submit it to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for approval.

5. Based on the decision to dispose of digital archive materials that have lost value, the Archives Department shall carry out the destruction of such files and materials on the System.

6. When disposing of digital archive materials that have exceeded their retention period, it must be ensured that these materials are not linked to other digital archive materials with longer retention periods within the same System.

CHAPTER VI

ORGANIZATION AND IMPLEMENTATION

Article 18. Responsibility for Implementation

1. Heads of units under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representative agencies, individuals, and units under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and organizations and individuals related to the foreign affairs archival work are responsible for implementing this Circular.

2. The Director of the Ministry's Office is responsible for guiding, inspecting, and urging the implementation of this Circular; taking the lead and coordinating with relevant units to advise the Minister of Foreign Affairs to issue relevant regulations to ensure the implementation of this Circular.

3. During the implementation process, if there are difficulties, units, organizations, and individuals shall promptly reflect them to the Ministry's Office for guidance and resolution within their authority or to advise and report to the competent authority for resolution.

Article 19. Effective Date

This Circular shall take effect from July 1, 2025.

In case the legal normative documents cited in this Circular are amended, supplemented, or replaced by other legal normative documents, they shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the amended, supplemented, or replacing documents./.