On September 3, 2026, the Government issued Decree 342/2026/ND-CP detailing the Law on Commerce and the Law on Foreign Trade Management regarding goods trading activities and activities directly related to goods trading of foreign investors and foreign-invested economic organizations in Viet Nam (Decree 342). Decree 342 takes effect on October 18, replacing Decree 09/2018/ND-CP and repealing Article 36 of Decree No. 146/2025/ND-CP. Compared to previous regulations, Decree 342 contains several noteworthy points, as follows:
(i) Decree 342 retains the mechanism for decentralization of authority to province-level People’s Committees and adding a mechanism for seeking opinions on national security;
(ii) Decree 342 supplements six-month report and shortening the deadline for annual report submission; and
(iii) Decree 342 supplements cases of license revocation when an entity is subject to administrative sanctions three times within a 12-month period for violating the scope of licensed operations.
