On June 14, 2025, Vietnam passed the amended Law on Chemicals No. 69/2025/QH15. This is a significant amendment after nearly two decades which is set to bring a strategic transformation to the country’s chemical regulatory framework.

The amended law introduces stronger provisions to protect human health and the environment while streamlining administrative procedures. Key changes include tighter control of chemical lifecycle management, enhanced monitoring of products containing hazardous substances, and greater emphasis on green chemistry and sustainability in line with the growth of the chemical industry and international standards.

Overview

• Approved by Vietnam’s National Assembly on June 14, 2025
• To replace the Law on Chemicals No. 06/2007/QH12
• To take effect on January 1, 2026,
  • Exception: Provisions on certification for chemical storage services enter into force on July 1, 2026.

Transitional provisions

• Existing licenses remain valid until expiry.
• Certifications for conditional substance operations remain valid until December 31, 2027
• Storage facilities must obtain the new certificate of eligibility by July 1, 2026
• Plans and measures for chemical incident prevention which were approved before the amended Law remain valid

Green chemistry principles

• Promotes the adoption of green chemistry principles in design, technology selection, production, use, and disposal to reduce harmful impacts

Lifecycle management

• Govern chemicals throughout their entire lifecycle: from production, trading, export, import, transportation, storage, uses, to waste treatment stages
• Group the chemical substance into specific categories (prohibited substances, substances requiring special control, conditional substances) and manage with a corresponding level of strictness

Hazardous substance management

• Manufacturers and importers are obliged to disclose information on the content of hazardous substances in the products via the national chemical database, electronic information website/portals of the company, or at the points of sale before products are placed on the market
• Seller of products containing hazardous substances are obliged to provide relevant information and documents to the buyer and present them upon request from authorities

Chemicals requiring special control

• Replace the term “restricted substances”
• Defined as: “chemicals requiring special control include hazardous substances and mixtures of hazardous substances on the List of substance requiring special control issued by the Government, including: substance subject to control to implement international treaties on chemicals to which Vietnam is a member; chemical substances that can pose risks to national defense, security, social safety, people, facilities, assets, and the environment”

Chemicals requiring special control

• For conditional substances and substances requiring special control, organizations and individuals must have a warehouse to store or use chemical storage services from an organization that has been granted a Certificate of eligibility to operate chemical storage services by a competent authority.
• Prohibited substances must be stored in a separate warehouse or separate area of the chemical warehouse. Organizations storing prohibited substances must have a logbook.

In March 2025, at the invitation of the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Chementors took part in a workshop on the Draft amended Law on Chemicals, organized by the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment in collaboration with VCCI. The event gathered input and recommendations from members of parliament, industry experts, and representatives of leading companies and associations in the chemical sector.