Promotional Activities – What Must Enterprises Comply With?

1. Definition of promotional activities 

Promotional activities are commercial promotion activities conducted by traders for the purpose of promoting the purchase and sale of goods or the provision of services by offering customers certain benefits. Promotional activities may be carried out by: (i) enterprises that themselves conduct production and/or business activities; and/or (ii) enterprises providing promotional services, which conduct promotions for other enterprises in accordance with a promotional service agreement. 

The Law on Commerce and relevant legislative documents impose specific conditions and restrictions on goods and services that are subject to promotion, as well as goods and services used for promotional purposes. Specifically: 

  • Goods and services eligible for promotion do not include alcoholic beverages, lottery products, tobacco products, breast-milk substitutes, medicines for human use (including medicines that have been licensed for circulation in accordance with regulations of the Ministry of Health, except in the case of promotions conducted for traders engaged in pharmaceutical business), medical examination and treatment services provided by public healthcare facilities, educational services provided by public educational institutions and public vocational education institutions, goods and services prohibited from circulation in Vietnam, and other goods and services prohibited from promotion under applicable laws. 
  • Goods and services used for promotion do not include alcoholic beverages, lottery products, tobacco products, medicines for human use (including medicines that have been licensed for circulation in accordance with regulations of the Ministry of Health, except in the case of promotions conducted for traders engaged in pharmaceutical business), goods and services prohibited from circulation in Vietnam, and other goods and services prohibited from promotion under applicable laws. 

2. Forms of Promotional Activities 

Promotional activities may be conducted in various forms, including but not limited to the following: 

  1. Providing free samples of goods or trial services to customers for use without charge; 
  2. Giving goods or providing services free of charge; 
  3. Selling goods or providing services at prices lower than the previous selling prices, applicable during the notified promotional period (price discount promotions); 
  4. Selling goods or providing services together with shopping vouchers or service vouchers; 
  5. Selling goods or providing services together with contest entry forms for customers to participate in prize selection in accordance with the published rules and prizes (or other equivalent forms of competitions and prize-awarding programs); 
  6. Selling goods or providing services together with participation in chance-based programs, where participation is linked to the purchase of goods or services and prizes are awarded based on the participant’s luck in accordance with the published rules and prizes (chance-based promotional programs); 
  7. Organizing customer loyalty programs, under which rewards are granted to customers based on the quantity or value of goods purchased or services used, as evidenced by customer cards, purchase record vouchers, or other similar forms. 

Enterprises engaged in the production and/or trading of goods and services that carry out promotional activities are required to conduct notification and/or registration procedures and must comply with the notification and/or registration obligations in accordance with applicable laws. 

3. Cases Requiring Notification of Promotional Activities 

Enterprises that carry out promotional activities in the form of (i) selling goods or providing services together with contest entry forms for customers to participate in prize selection in accordance with the published rules and prizes (or other equivalent forms of competitions and prize-awarding programs), and/or (ii) organizing customer loyalty programs, under which rewards are granted to customers based on the quantity or value of goods purchased or services used, as evidenced by customer cards, purchase record vouchers, or other similar forms, are required to complete promotional procedures with the Department of Industry and Trade of the locality where the promotion is organized (i.e. the locality in which the promotion is implemented) prior to conducting such promotional activities. 

Enterprises conducting promotional activities are not required to notify promotional activities if they fall into one of the following cases: 

  1. Conducting promotions in the forms prescribed in Clause 8 Article 92 of the Law on Commerce and Articles 8, 9, 10, and 11 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP; 
  2. Conducting promotions in the forms prescribed in Articles 12 and 14 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP where the total value of prizes and gifts is less than VND 100 million; 
  3. Conducting promotional programs solely in the forms prescribed in Articles 12 and 14 of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP for goods and services sold or provided through e-commerce trading floor applications, online promotion websites, and online promotion applications. 

4. Cases requiring registration of promotional activities 

Enterprises that conduct promotional activities involving the sale of goods or provision of services in conjunction with participation in chance-based programs, where participation is linked to the purchase of goods or services and prizes are awarded based on the participant’s luck in accordance with the published rules and prizes (chance-based promotional programs), or other forms of promotion as approved by the competent state authority in charge of commerce, are required to register such promotional activities with the competent authority. 

Depending on the location where the promotion is implemented, the competent authority shall be as follows: 

  • The Department of Industry and Trade, for chance-based promotional programs conducted within the territory of a single province or centrally run city; 
  • The Ministry of Industry and Trade, for chance-based promotional programs conducted in two or more provinces or centrally run cities, and for promotional programs conducted in other forms. 

Date written: 20/01/2026

Related posts

  1. Stacked promotions: Key legal risks companies should aware of
  2. Promotion on e-commerce platforms: Legal considerations you need to know

 

Disclaimers:

This article is for general information purposes only and is not intended to provide any legal advice for any particular case. The legal provisions referenced in the content are in effect at the time of publication but may have expired at the time you read the content. We therefore advise that you always consult a professional consultant before applying any content.

For issues related to the content or intellectual property rights of the article, please email cs@apolatlegal.vn.

Apolat Legal is a law firm in Vietnam with experience and capacity to provide consulting services related to Business and Investment and contact our team of lawyers in Vietnam via email info@apolatlegal.com.



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