Regulatory Affairs

This section is a Vietnam-focused reference for pharmaceutical regulation under the Ministry of Health (Bộ Y tế) and the Drug Administration of Vietnam (Cục Quản lý Dược — DAV).

Scope:

• Marketing authorisation (giấy đăng ký lưu hành) for chemical drugs, biologicals, vaccines, and herbal medicines.
• Technical dossier requirements in ACTD / ICH CTD format, and bioequivalence rules for generics.
• GMP, GLP, GSP, GDP, and GPP certification for manufacturers, labs, warehouses, distributors, and community pharmacies.
• Drug labelling, package inserts, and patient information leaflets.
• Post-marketing obligations: variations, renewals, recalls.
• Special pathways for orphan drugs, novel biologicals, and traditional medicines.

Legal hierarchy in Vietnam: Law → Decree (Nghị định) → Circular (Thông tư). The Pharmacy Law sets the framework, government decrees implement it, and Ministry of Health circulars set technical detail. Companies operating in Vietnam should track DAV announcements and the official Gazette (Công báo).

Pharmacy Law:

• Law on Pharmacy No. 105/2016/QH13 — the foundational law on pharmacy practice, drug registration, manufacture, and distribution; in force from 1 January 2017.
• Law No. 44/2024/QH15 — amends and supplements articles of the Pharmacy Law; effective 1 July 2025. Key changes: streamlined renewal of marketing authorisations, expanded scope for online drug retail, and new provisions on drug pricing oversight.

Decrees (Nghị định):

• Decree 163/2025/NĐ-CP — guidance on implementing the Pharmacy Law; supersedes Decree 54/2017/NĐ-CP and Decree 155/2018/NĐ-CP.

Drug registration:

• Circular 12/2025/TT-BYT — registration of pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical starting materials; supersedes Circular 32/2018/TT-BYT and Circular 08/2022/TT-BYT. To be replaced by Circular 32/2026/TT-BYT (issued 29 July 2026) from 1 October 2026 — full change analysis at /news/thong-tu-32-2026-tt-byt-dang-ky-luu-hanh-thuoc/

GxP certification:

• Circular 35/2018/TT-BYT — Good Manufacturing Practice (WHO-GMP, PIC/S-GMP, EU-GMP reference).
• Circular 36/2018/TT-BYT — Good Storage Practice (GSP).
• Circular 03/2018/TT-BYT — Good Distribution Practice (GDP).
• Circular 02/2018/TT-BYT — Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) for community pharmacies.

Labelling:

• Circular 01/2018/TT-BYT — drug labelling and patient information leaflets.

Note: Circular numbers and effective dates should be verified against the official publication on the DAV portal or the Ministry of Health Gazette before relying on them for regulatory submissions.

Primary law:

• Law on Pharmacy 105/2016/QH13 — https://vbpl.vn/boyte/Pages/vbpq-toanvan.aspx?ItemID=121413
• Law 44/2024/QH15 (amending Law 105/2016) — https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=212466
• Consolidated Pharmacy Law (văn bản hợp nhất) 2025 — https://datafiles.chinhphu.vn/cpp/files/vbpq/2026/3/76-vbhn-vpqh.pdf

Decree:

• Decree 163/2025/NĐ-CP — implementing the Pharmacy Law; supersedes Decree 54/2017/NĐ-CP and Decree 155/2018/NĐ-CP — https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=214322

Circular:

• Circular 12/2025/TT-BYT — drug registration framework (supersedes TT 32/2018 and TT 08/2022; to be replaced by Circular 32/2026/TT-BYT from 1 October 2026).
• Circular 35/2018/TT-BYT — GMP (WHO/PIC/S/EU references).
• Circular 03/2018/TT-BYT — GDP.
• Circular 02/2018/TT-BYT — GPP (amended by TT 11/2025).
• Circular 36/2018/TT-BYT — GSP.

Operational portals:

• Drug Administration of Vietnam (DAV) — https://dav.gov.vn
• MOH — https://moh.gov.vn

Medibase cross-references:

• Registration process — /medicine/registration/
• Distribution & retail — /medicine/distribution-retail/
• Special-control medicines — /medicine/special-control/

2025 — Amended Pharmacy Law in force: Law 44/2024/QH15 took effect on 1 July 2025. The amendment streamlines marketing authorisation renewals (extension of automatic validity in defined cases), formalises online retail of non-prescription medicines under strict conditions, and tightens oversight of drug pricing declarations.

2024 — Backlog clearance on MA renewals: DAV continued the temporary extension mechanism for marketing authorisations whose renewal dossiers were pending, allowing affected products to remain on market while evaluation completes.

2022 — Circular 08/2022/TT-BYT: Updated registration framework introduced ACTD/ICH-CTD harmonisation, clarified requirements for biosimilars, and revised timelines for evaluation.

2018–2019 — GxP modernization: Vietnam adopted PIC/S-GMP as a reference standard and progressively required upgrades for domestic manufacturers. Foreign manufacturers must hold an equivalent recognised GMP certificate (WHO-GMP, PIC/S-GMP, EU-GMP, or US-FDA).