Circular No. 15/2026/TT-BCT amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 38/2025/TT-BCT issued by the Minister of Industry and Trade amending and supplementing certain regulations on delegation of administrative procedures in fields under the management scope of the Ministry of Industry and Trade

 CIRCULAR

Amending and Supplementing Certain Articles of Circular No. 38/2025/TT-BCT of the Minister of Commerce amending and supplementing certain provisions on delegation of administrative procedures implementation in fields under the management scope of the Ministry of Commerce

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

Based on the Resolution No. 190/2025/QH15 of the National Assembly on handling certain issues related to restructuring of state administrative bodies;

Based on Decree No. 40/2025/NĐ-CP of the Government on functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Commerce;

Based on Decree No. 146/2025/NĐ-CP of the Government on delegation and decentralization in industrial and commercial sectors;

Based on Decree No. 139/2025/NĐ-CP of the Government on delineation of authority between two levels of local authorities in state management fields under the Ministry of Commerce;

In accordance with the proposal of the Office Director;

The Minister of Commerce promulgates this Circular amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 38/2025/TT-BCT of the Minister of Commerce amending and supplementing certain provisions on delegation of administrative procedures implementation in fields under the management scope of the Ministry of Commerce.

Article 1. Amend and supplement paragraph 2, paragraph 6 of Article 1 of Circular No. 38/2025/TT-BCT of the Minister of Commerce amending and supplementing certain provisions on delegation of administrative procedures implementation in fields under the management scope of the Ministry of Commerce (amend and supplement point c of paragraph 2 of Article 4, point e of paragraph 1 of Article 18 of Circular No. 23/2024/TT-BCT of the Minister of Commerce on regulation and use of industrial explosives and explosive precursors under the management authority of the Ministry of Commerce)

“2. Amend and supplement point c of paragraph 2 of Article 4 as follows:

c) Issue, renew, or adjust permits for the use of industrial explosives to organizations, enterprises conducting research and testing of industrial explosives, or to organizations, enterprises holding mining operation permit No. 1 issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (including organizations, enterprises holding mining operation permit No. 1 issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment that are still valid), except for organizations, enterprises under the management scope of the Ministry of National Defense.”

2. Amend paragraph 6 of Article 1 as follows:

“6. Amend point e of paragraph 1 of Article 18 as follows:

e) Perform tasks related to construction, fire prevention and firefighting for industrial production facilities and explosive storage facilities according to the authority prescribed by laws on construction and fire safety;”.

 Article 2. Insert paragraph 3a after paragraph 3 of Circular No. 38/2025/TT-BCT (insert Article 28a after Article 28 of Circular No. 40/2018/TT-BCT of the Minister of Commerce on construction and content of safety management documents in oil and gas operations)

“3a. Insert Article 28a after Article 28 of Circular No. 40/2018/TT-BCT as follows:

Article 28a. Procedure and process for approval of safety management documents for offshore oil and gas projects under the jurisdiction of provincial people's committees

1. Organizations or individuals engaged in oil and gas operations submit an application for approval of safety management documents directly to the provincial people's committee, through postal services, or online via the provincial people's committee’s administrative procedure information system. The application shall include:

a) A request document;

b) Three (3) copies of safety management documents (Safety Management Program, Risk Assessment Report, Emergency Response Plan) in accordance with regulations (in Vietnamese);

2. The provincial people's committee decides to establish an expert panel for reviewing the safety management documents. The number of members of the panel depends on the characteristics and scale of oil and gas operations, but shall be at least five (5). The expert panel reviews the suitability and content of the safety management documents. In case necessary, the panel may conduct a site inspection. The expert panel is responsible for preparing minutes of the review meeting. Based on the minutes, the provincial people's committee sends a letter to the organization or individual requesting corrections and supplements to clarify contents in the document.

The expert panel shall complete the review within twenty (20) working days from the date it receives a fully compliant application. After completing the review, the expert panel prepares a report on the results of the review and submits it to the provincial people's committee.

3. Based on the report on the results of the review, the provincial people's committee decides to approve the safety management documents within five (5) working days from the date of receipt of the report.”

“Article 8. Delegation of the implementation of administrative procedures for the transportation of dangerous goods

1. The Chemicals Administration is responsible for receiving applications, reviewing, issuing, adjusting, renewing, and recovering permits for the transportation of dangerous goods classified as type 5 and type 8 in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 4 of Decree No. 161/2024/NĐ-CP which specifies the list of dangerous goods, transportation of dangerous goods, and procedures and formalities for issuing permits, as well as points b, e, g of paragraph 4 of Article 44 of Decree No. 105/2025/NĐ-CP of the Government detailing certain provisions and implementation measures for the Law on Fire Prevention, Firefighting, Rescue, and Emergency Response.

2. The Minister of Industry and Trade delegates to the People's Committees of provinces where organizations or individuals have their principal offices or branches within the local administrative region the responsibility for receiving applications, reviewing, issuing, adjusting, renewing, and recovering permits for the transportation of dangerous goods classified as type 1 (excluding industrial explosives and precursors of explosive materials), types 2, 3, 4, and 9 in accordance with points b, e of paragraph 4, paragraph 6 of Article 44 of Decree No. 105/2025/NĐ-CP of the Government detailing certain provisions and implementation measures for the Law on Fire Prevention, Firefighting, Rescue, and Emergency Response.

Article 4. Amend and supplement paragraph 2 of Article 23 of Circular No. 38/2025/TT-BCT (amending Appendix III of Circular No. 37/2013/TT-BCT of the Minister of Industry and Trade specifying the importation of cigarettes, cigars)

"2. Replace the phrase “Chemical Import-Export Administration - Ministry of Industry and Trade (Address: 54 Hai Ba Trung - Hoan Kiem - Hanoi)” in the salutation with the phrase “Permitting Authority” and repeal the content “Software for reports sent to Chemical Import-Export Administration - Ministry of Industry and Trade at the following email addresses: [email protected]; [email protected]” in Appendix III."

Article 5. Supplement Clause 6 of Circular No. 38/2025/TT-BCT

"6. Replace the phrase 'License issued by the Ministry of Commerce (No. ...)' with the phrase 'License issued by the Licensing Authority (No. ...)' in Appendix V."

Article 6. Supplement Clause 1a before Clause 1 of Circular No. 38/2025/TT-BCT (Amending Clause 2 of Circular No. 11/2016/TT-BCT by the Minister of Commerce, which stipulates the forms for implementing Decree No. 07/2016/NĐ-CP dated January 25, 2016, by the Government, detailing Article 40 of the Commercial Law on Representative Offices and Branches of Foreign Enterprises in Vietnam, as amended and supplemented by Circular No. 03/2024/TT-BCT)

"1a. Amend Clause 2 as follows:"

Article 2. Codes for Provinces, Autonomous Cities Directly Under Central Government

The codes for provinces, autonomous cities directly under the central government shall be in accordance with the provisions of the law on the list and codes of administrative units in Vietnam at the time of issuance of the license."

Article 7. Amend and supplement Clause 1 of Circular No. 38/2025/TT-BCT (Amending and supplementing Clause 1 of Circular No. 10/2018/TT-BCT by the Minister of Commerce, which stipulates detailed provisions of Decree No. 40/2018/NĐ-CP dated March 12, 2018, by the Government on managing business activities conducted through multi-level marketing)

"1. Amend and supplement Clause 5(1) as follows:"

1. The People's Committee of each province shall organize a legal knowledge test for multi-level marketing salespersons and local key contacts according to the following procedures:

a) Examine the completeness and validity of the application documents in accordance with the provisions of the law on managing business activities conducted through multi-level marketing;

b) Plan the time, location, and method of inspection;

c) Notify the inspection plan;

d) Conduct the inspection;

e) Evaluate the results of the inspection;

f) Notify the results of the inspection."

Article 8. Provisions for Implementation

1. This Circular shall take effect from April 10, 2026.

2. Replace certain forms in Part II of Appendix I attached to Circular No. 38/2025/TT-BCT with Appendix 1 of this Circular.

3. Replace Table 2 of the Appendix issued with Circular No. 11/2016/TT-BCT with Appendix 2 of this Circular.

Article 9. Transitional Provisions

1. Licenses, Certificates, and other documents issued by government agencies for administrative procedures in various fields prior to the effectiveness of this Circular shall remain valid until the expiration date stated in such licenses, certificates, and other documents as per regulations.

2. Administrative procedure files that were fully submitted to competent authorities before the effective date of this Circular shall continue to be processed by the competent authority according to the provisions of the relevant legal normative document at the time of submission.