A product that is allowed to be circulated in Vietnam does not mean that an enterprise is allowed to advertise that product in any content or method. The amended Law on Advertising has come into effect from January 1, 2026 along with Decree No. 342/2025/ND-CP (Decree 342) placing advertising activities within a stricter management framework, in addition to the specialized requirements that have been applied.
The starting point is not to design the message, but to determine whether the product is advertised and, if so, subject to which regulation.
Risks often do not only come from false information. Advertisements can be violated because of misclassification of products, introduction of uses beyond the published records, lack of warnings, failure to complete mandatory procedures, or allowing third parties to arbitrarily change the message. Therefore, businesses need to simultaneously control the legal status of products, media content and the release process.
1. Correct classification: special products do not mean allowed to advertise
The starting point is not to design the message, but to determine whether the product is advertised and, if so, subject to which regulation.
Article 3 of Decree 342 defines groups of special products, goods and services, including cosmetics; food; nutritional products for young children; insecticidal and bactericidal preparations; medical equipment; medical examination and treatment services; medicines; alcoholic beverages within the scope of advertisement; and product groups in the fields of cultivation, plant protection, veterinary medicine, animal husbandry and fisheries. This list needs to be read together with Article 7 of the Law on Advertising and specialized laws, it cannot be understood that all products listed are automatically advertised.
For example, alcohol with an alcohol content of 15 degrees or more is prohibited from advertising; alcohol below 15 degrees and beer are only advertised within statutory limits. Similarly, some nutritional products for young children are prohibited from advertising, while other groups are conditionally advertised. With products at the border between cosmetics, food and drugs, the actual uses, legal documents and introduction must be consistent: they cannot be declared cosmetics but advertised as therapeutic drugs.
2. Being circulated does not mean being eligible for advertising
Enterprises need to clearly distinguish three legal issues: (i) whether the product is allowed to be circulated or whether the service is allowed to be provided; (ii) whether the expected content is suitable for specialized documents and regulations; and (iii) whether the specific case must complete the procedure for certifying advertising content before issuance.
According to Article 20 of the Law on Advertising, documents proving advertising conditions must be suitable for each type of product or service. Cosmetic declaration cards, food declaration dossiers, medical device circulation papers or medical examination and treatment licenses do not have the same legal function. It is necessary to check the subject's name, scope, validity and information permitted to be used; a valid document for circulation is not an approval of all advertising statements.
In particular, being on the list of special products does not automatically give rise to the obligation to apply for certification of advertising content. This obligation must be compared with the corresponding specialized regulations, especially for drugs, health supplements and medical examination and treatment services. Enterprises should not apply a common permission application process for all product groups, nor should they infer that without applying for confirmation, there is no need to control content.
When advertising content is required by law to be confirmed, the release must be compared with the confirmed content. Changes in use, dialogue, image, warnings, or users should be evaluated before posting; depending on specialized regulations, changes may require the implementation of corresponding procedures.
3. Errors in the content: uses, warnings and expression
Advertising content must be truthful, accurate, clear and not misleading. Article 19 of the Advertising Law also sets requirements for the mandatory content expression: the warning text must have the prescribed contrast and font size; the read-to-speech content must be clear, with the same speed and volume as other information. Therefore, the inclusion of a warning in text that is too small or read too fast in a short video cannot be considered a compliance solution just because the warning still appears. In practice, advertising activities on radio and television are common violations encountered by businesses.
Chapter II of Decree 342 stipulates separate content for each product group. Instead of using a common advertising template, businesses should make a comparison table between advertising statements, supporting documents, mandatory information, and expression limits for each product.
Medical and health groups. For cosmetics, the content must be consistent with the announced uses, have mandatory information about the product and the subject of the announcement; must not make consumers understand that cosmetics have therapeutic effects like drugs. The use of images, names or elements that evoke the endorsement of medical facilities and medical staff must be checked according to the limits in Article 4 of Decree 342.
For food, especially health supplements, it is necessary to check the permitted use, the name and information of the responsible entity, identification phrases and mandatory recommendations, including the warning "This food is not a medicine and does not replace medicine". Health support claims must not be translated into a commitment to cure just to increase sales efficiency.
For drugs, it is necessary to first determine whether the drug is of the type advertised to the public or not. The conditions for confirming the content, mandatory information, warnings and limitations for each advertising medium must be compared with the current pharmaceutical law; it is not recommended to default to a list of information that applies the same to all advertising formats.
For medical equipment, information about the purpose of use and use should be consistent with the product dossier; the use of images and information related to medical facilities or medical staff must comply with specialized limits. For medical examination and treatment services, advertising must be consistent with the operating license, approved professional scope and mandatory information as prescribed.
Nutrition group for young children. Classification by product type and age is a prerequisite: some products are prohibited from advertising, others must show the preamble and recommendations on breastfeeding according to Article 6 of Decree 342. The wrong age group can lead to the wrong scope of both the advertised scope and the mandatory content.
Group of insecticidal and bactericidal preparations. Advertising content must be consistent with circulation records, showing the uses, responsible subjects and danger instructions and warnings according to Article 7 of Decree 342. Shortening warnings when switching from original documents to social network images is a risk that needs to be controlled.
Group of alcoholic beverages. In addition to the prohibition of advertising for alcohol of 15 degrees or more, advertising of alcohol under 15 degrees and beer is subject to restrictions on content, warnings, audiences, time and means of advertising according to the law on prevention and control of harms of alcohol and beer.
Agriculture group. Plant protection drugs, veterinary drugs, animal feeds, aquatic feeds, fertilizers, plant varieties and related products must be compared with each provision in Articles 10-12 of Decree 342 and specialized laws. In particular, it is necessary to control declarations of efficacy, use and warnings for products with dangerous elements.
The contract, the approved script, the live streaming control mechanism and the content removal process must be designed from scratch.
4. Advertising in the digital environment: the responsibility does not stop at the poster
Advertising messages can change as they pass through multiple channels.
The same product but the content on the website, e-commerce platform, short video, livestream or distributor's post may be different. Businesses need to distinguish mandatory information about products from advertising content according to Article 19 of the Advertising Law, and at the same time control the interpretation of uses beyond legal documents.
Cooperating with KOLs/KOCs does not transfer all legal responsibilities to third parties.
According to Article 15a of the Advertising Law, influencers when conveying advertising products must fulfill the obligation to verify and check information; do not introduce products if they have not used or understood the product and must notify the advertisement as prescribed. If the business approves "health support" content but the livestreamer claims to be "cured", the risk does not only belong to the spokesperson. The contract, the approved script, the live streaming control mechanism and the content removal process must be designed from scratch.
5. What control mechanism do enterprises need to develop?
An effective solution is not to add an extra round of last-minute wording checks, but to set up an approval process based on the level of risk of the product and advertising media.
First of all, businesses need to make advertising legal documents for each product, clearly determine whether the product is advertised or prohibited, the scope of use, supporting documents, warnings and specialized procedures must be completed.
Next, any claims of use or efficacy must be based on collation. The legal, product and marketing departments should approve the same version of the content, including text, images, dialogue, subtitles, and information used by third parties.
For ads that are subject to content confirmation, it is necessary to establish a separate check step between the intended release and the confirmed version. For content that is not subject to confirmation, the obligation to check for truth, warnings, and specialized limitations still exists.
Businesses also need to have rules in place to control post-approval changes: an additional dialogue, a doctor's image, an effectiveness pledge, or a video cut can all change the legal judgment of an ad.
Contracts with agencies, distributors and KOLs/KOCs should stipulate the obligation to use approved documents, not arbitrarily expand their use, keep evidence, coordinate explanations, and edit or remove infringing content. Outsourcing does not automatically exclude the responsibility of enterprises under the law.
Finally, it is necessary to monitor the content being released and update when product documents, business scope or legal regulations change. Risks that may entail sanctions, requests for removal or correction, disputes with consumers and costs of campaign remedies; specific sanctions must be determined according to the current acts and sanctions.
A product eligible for circulation can still be advertised illegally if the message exceeds the permitted use, lacks warnings or does not meet specialized procedures. Therefore, advertising compliance must be a control mechanism throughout from the product profile to the actual content announced, not just the operation of reviewing the text before posting of the business.
Lawyer Nguyen Van Phuc - Nguyen Thi Bao Khanh
HM&P Law Firm
