Most advertising in Vietnam runs freely under a self-responsibility regime, but there is a list of special products and services whose advertising content must be confirmed by a State authority before release. Advertising a drug, cosmetic, food product, medical device or medical service without content confirmation is a violation from the very first frame — however truthful that content may be.
The confirmation list: special goods and services
Under Article 12 of Decree 181/2013/ND-CP (as amended by Decree 123/2018/ND-CP) guiding the Advertising Law, advertising of special products, goods and services must have its content confirmed by the competent State authority before the advertising is carried out. The list comprises: human drugs; cosmetics; food and food additives; household and medical insecticides and disinfectants; medical devices; milk and nutritional products for young children; medical examination and treatment services; plant protection products; veterinary drugs; and agricultural groups such as fertilisers, animal feed and plant and animal breeds under corresponding sector rules. The common thread is products acting directly on human health, crops, livestock and the environment — where wrong advertising content can cause harm before post-checks can intervene.
Confirmed content is locked inside the frame of information already accepted by the sector authority: drug advertising must follow the uses and indications in the approved package insert; food advertising must not mislead consumers into treating food as medicine and must carry mandatory warnings such as “this food is not a medicine and has no effect replacing medicine” for health-protection foods. Going beyond the confirmed content — adding one use, changing one claim — is a fresh violation even though the confirmation paper remains valid for the old content.
Confirming authority, file and timing
The confirming authority follows the product sector management: food and health-protection food sit in the health sector food safety system (the Food Safety Department of the Ministry of Health and devolved authorities); drugs and cosmetics in the Ministry of Health drug administration system; agricultural products (plant protection products, veterinary drugs, fertilisers, feed, breeds) in the specialised authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment; certain other goods under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and related ministries assignment. The confirmation file comprises the application, the product legal papers (circulation registration, product declaration, related licences), and the intended advertising script and content presenting in full the images, voice and text to be released.
Processing time follows each sector rules, commonly around ten working days from a complete valid file, with the confirming authority issuing the advertising content confirmation or replying in writing with refusal reasons and parts to amend. In production reality, companies and agencies should build confirmation time into the campaign schedule from the scripting stage: a campaign whose media slots are already bought, discovering content must change after confirmation, pays with locked media money. The confirmation attaches to specific content — changing the executing agency does not void it, but changing content requires re-confirmation of the change.
Advertising without confirmation: fines and campaign fallout
Advertising a confirmation-listed product without content confirmation — or advertising deviating from the confirmed content — is administratively fined in the culture and advertising field under Decree 87/2026/ND-CP (effective 15 May 2026, replacing Decree 38/2021/ND-CP in this field), with fines by violation act, organisations bearing double the individual rate under the general rule, plus mandatory remediation: removing, deleting the violating advertisement and publishing corrections as required. Advertising publishers (broadcasters, newspapers, platforms) also bear a duty to check the confirmation before release — an unconfirmed advertisement refused at the media gate is an everyday occurrence.
Heavier than fines is the product-chain fallout: advertising content misstating uses can trigger re-review of the product own registration or declaration file; and in sensitive fields such as drugs and health-protection foods, health authorities periodically publicise advertising violation lists — reputational damage with Vietnamese consumers many times the fine. The right compliance process design is: finalise content strictly on the approved product information, obtain confirmation, lock the release file identical to the confirmed version, and re-check every channel cut-down variant against the confirmation before airing.
Advertising content confirmation is a narrow but hard pre-check mechanism: it applies only to the special goods and services group, and inside that group admits no exception. A company that builds the confirmation step into the campaign schedule from scripting day never has to pull an aired campaign for one missing paper. This draft is pending review by the QA Council.
Frequently asked questions
Which advertising must obtain content confirmation?
Advertising of special products, goods and services under Article 12 of Decree 181/2013/ND-CP (as amended by Decree 123/2018/ND-CP): drugs, cosmetics, food and food additives, household and medical insecticides and disinfectants, medical devices, milk and nutritional products for children, medical examination and treatment services, plant protection products, veterinary drugs, fertilisers, animal feed and plant and animal breeds. Outside this list, advertising runs on self-responsibility without prior confirmation.
Which authority confirms advertising content?
By the product managing sector: food and health-protection food at the food safety authority under the Ministry of Health (the Food Safety Department and devolved authorities); drugs and cosmetics at the drug administration authority under the Ministry of Health; plant protection products, veterinary drugs, fertilisers, feed and breeds at specialised authorities under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment; other goods as assigned to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and related ministries. The file comprises the product legal papers and the full intended advertising script and content.
How long does advertising content confirmation take?
Under each sector rules, commonly around ten working days from a complete valid file, the competent authority issues the advertising content confirmation or replies in writing on parts to amend or supplement. Real time depends on first-file quality: content staying close to the products licensed information passes quickly; content with claims exceeding the product declaration is usually sent back for amendment and refiling, adding a round. Set the confirmation completion milestone before the media-buying lock date.
What happens if advertising runs without confirmation?
Administrative fines under Decree 87/2026/ND-CP on culture and advertising penalties (replacing Decree 38/2021/ND-CP in this field from 15 May 2026): fines by violation act, organisations bearing double the individual rate, plus forced removal, deletion of the advertisement and correction publication. Advertising publishers may and must refuse unconfirmed content; use-misstating violations can further trigger product registration or declaration re-review and publicised violation lists in the health field.
After confirmation, must changed advertising content be re-confirmed?
Yes, for the changed part: the confirmation attaches to a specific advertising content (script, images, voice, claims), so adding a use, changing the message or materially altering presentation requires re-confirmation of the change before release. Pure duration cut-down variants per channel must still not distort the confirmed content — the agency should cross-check every cut against the confirmed version and archive the comparison file for each campaign.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council