Vietnam’s e-commerce market has passed the era of foreign platforms operating unlicensed in practice. The E-commerce Law 122/2025/QH15 and Decree 248/2026/ND-CP, effective from 1 July 2026 and replacing Decree 52/2013/ND-CP, built a clear management gate for cross-border marketplaces: hit the Vietnam activity threshold and the platform must register with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, must have a representative legal entity in the country and must bear platform responsibility like a domestic marketplace. This article presents the additional conditions a foreign marketplace must satisfy, the registration procedure, the tax duties of cross-border goods and the platform’s responsibility for counterfeit goods on its own platform.
Signs of Being Treated as Active in Vietnam
Under the framework of the E-commerce Law 122/2025/QH15 and Decree 248/2026/ND-CP, a foreign platform is treated as having e-commerce activity in Vietnam when it shows at least one of three signs: providing a Vietnamese-language interface for Vietnamese users; using a .vn domain name; or reaching from 100,000 transactions per year from buyers in Vietnam. The transaction threshold is the most decisive novelty, because it pulls even platforms without a Vietnamese interface and without a Vietnamese domain into management scope once their actual sales scale is significant. A platform in this scope must register its activity with the Ministry of Industry and Trade before operating in Vietnam or within 60 days of hitting the threshold, instead of the light notification model of the Decree 52/2013/ND-CP era. Platforms confirmed under the old framework have a transition window of one year, until the end of 30 June 2027, to amend and supplement dossiers under the new rules — past this window, operating without registration under the new framework is unlicensed operation.
Additional Conditions and the Representative Entity in Vietnam
The number one specific condition of a cross-border marketplace is having a representative legal entity or an authorized organization in Vietnam designated in writing and attached to the registration dossier: this is the domestic legal point of contact for the regulator to reach, to require information from, to handle violations with, and for Vietnamese consumers and sellers to exercise their rights through. Depending on platform type, the dossier also touches operating conditions of the intermediary platform group: dedicated personnel managing the activity, an operations plan describing the model and operating mechanisms, and for platforms with online ordering or sales livestream functions a seller funds management mechanism covering transparent holding, reconciliation, payment and withdrawal of seller money. The Ministry of Industry and Trade appraises the dossier and returns the registration result within seven working days via the National Public Service Portal; a dossier asked for clarification that the provider does not supplement within 60 days terminates by itself and must be redone from the start. The representative entity is not decorative: administrative responsibility and takedown demands for infringing contents and goods will be applied by the regulator directly through this point of contact.
How Cross-Border Goods Are Taxed
Goods sold through a cross-border marketplace into Vietnam bear tax at the import stage like ordinary imported goods: import duty per the HS code tariff and value added tax at the import stage, collected through the shipment’s customs declaration or through the low-value declaration mechanism for express delivery goods. The big change marketplaces must update into their pricing models is Decision 01/2025/QD-TTg dated 3 January 2025, which repealed Decision 78/2010/QD-TTg and took effect from 18 February 2025: goods sent by express delivery service are no longer exempt from value added tax by small value — every shipment bears import-stage VAT regardless of value. Meanwhile, the import duty exemption threshold for goods valued at VND 1 million or less sent by express delivery still exists under Article 29 of Decree 134/2016/ND-CP as amended by Decree 18/2021/ND-CP — the two taxes therefore have two different fates on the same small order. The platform and its logistics providers must redesign tax-inclusive price display, collection-on-behalf mechanisms and tax documents for buyers, because the assumption that small goods are VAT-exempt has not been true since February 2025.
The Platform’s Responsibility for Counterfeit Goods
The E-commerce Law 122/2025/QH15 places proactive responsibility on the platform instead of a purely passive intermediary model. The platform must identify sellers, control and screen posted goods information, operate a mechanism to receive reports and remove counterfeit goods, intellectual-property-infringing goods and banned goods from the platform upon detection or upon request of competent authorities and rights holders. For cross-border marketplaces, these duties are enforced through the representative entity in Vietnam and through the platform’s own operating system: foreign seller files selling into Vietnam, transaction data and goods source traceability are the points the regulator will inspect. A platform lax in control, letting counterfeits flood in, faces not only sanctions in the e-commerce and consumer protection fields but also the risk of Vietnam-activity management measures such as remedy orders, restriction or suspension of service provision under the new law’s framework. Building seller vetting and infringing-goods takedown processes is therefore part of sustainable operating conditions, not a public relations activity.
A Practical Compliance Roadmap for a Platform Entering Vietnam
A correctly ordered market entry roadmap comprises: self-assessing the Vietnam activity signs under the three statutory signs and forecasting when the 100,000 transaction threshold will be hit; designating a representative entity in Vietnam and preparing the registration dossier including the operations plan, operating mechanisms and the seller funds management mechanism if in the ordering and livestream group; filing registration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade via the National Public Service Portal before operating or within the 60-day window; redesigning the logistics and tax chain for cross-border goods per the current tax state, especially VAT no longer exempt for low-value goods; and operating seller identification, goods vetting and counterfeit handling systems as a standing duty. A platform already operating under old-framework confirmation should set its dossier supplementation completion milestone before the transition window closes on 30 June 2027. Compliance cost is real, but against the risk of being blocked from operating mid-peak sales season, it is the cheapest investment of a serious cross-border marketplace.
Frequently Asked Questions
What extra conditions must a cross-border platform meet?
Beyond the general conditions of intermediary platforms, a foreign platform within the Vietnam-activity scope must include a written designation of a representative legal entity or authorized organization in Vietnam in its registration dossier; for the group with online ordering or livestream functions, the dossier also covers dedicated personnel, an operations plan and a seller funds management mechanism covering holding, reconciliation, payment and withdrawal. The scope triggers are a Vietnamese interface, a .vn domain name or from 100,000 transactions per year from Vietnamese buyers under the E-commerce Law 122/2025/QH15 and Decree 248/2026/ND-CP.
Must it register with the Ministry of Industry and Trade?
Yes. A foreign platform with e-commerce activity in Vietnam under any of the three signs — Vietnamese interface, .vn domain, from 100,000 transactions a year from Vietnamese buyers — must register with the Ministry of Industry and Trade before operating or within 60 days of hitting the threshold. The Ministry appraises and returns the registration result in seven working days via the National Public Service Portal. Platforms confirmed under Decree 52/2013/ND-CP have one year until the end of 30 June 2027 to supplement dossiers under the new framework.
How are cross-border goods taxed?
Goods bear import duty per HS code and VAT at the import stage like ordinary imports. The big change is that from 18 February 2025, under Decision 01/2025/QD-TTg repealing Decision 78/2010/QD-TTg, goods sent by express delivery are no longer VAT-exempt by small value — every shipment bears import-stage VAT. Separately, the import duty exemption threshold for goods of VND 1 million or less by express delivery still exists under Article 29 of Decree 134/2016/ND-CP as amended by Decree 18/2021/ND-CP.
What is the platform’s responsibility for counterfeit goods?
The platform must act proactively: identify sellers, control and screen goods information, receive reports and remove counterfeit goods, IP-infringing goods and banned goods upon detection or upon request of competent authorities and rights holders, under the E-commerce Law 122/2025/QH15. For cross-border platforms, duties are enforced through the representative entity in Vietnam and seller identity and transaction data. Lax control exposes the platform to e-commerce and consumer protection sanctions and to Vietnam-activity management measures under the new law.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council
