Rapid growth accompanied by rising violations

According to Hoang Quang Phong, Vice President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), amid a strong digital transformation, e-commerce and online business activities had become an important driver of economic growth, expanding opportunities for enterprises and consumers.

According to a report by the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade), in 2024 e-commerce continued to grow at nearly three times the rate of traditional commerce globally, contributing about 20% of total retail goods and services revenue. Southeast Asia remained the world’s fastest-growing region for e-commerce and the digital economy. Within this context, Vietnam’s e-commerce sector maintained strong growth, reaching 18–25% annually. In the first nine months of 2025 alone, domestic e-commerce revenue hit VND305.9 trillion (US$12.24 billion), up 34.35% year on year. This surge further positioned Vietnam as one of the most promising markets in the ASEAN region.

However, alongside this rapid development, smuggling, commercial fraud, and the online trading of counterfeit, imitation, and substandard goods became increasingly complex, adversely affecting consumer health and even safety, harming legitimate enterprises, and creating anxiety among consumers.

According to statistics from the National Steering Committee against Smuggling, Counterfeit Goods, and Trade Fraud (National Steering Committee 389), crimes and legal violations related to smuggling, trade fraud, and counterfeit goods have continued to develop in a complex manner in many major provinces and cities, including Hanoi, Hai Phong, Hung Yen, Bac Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, and Dong Nai.

Violations have ranged from the production and trading of counterfeit goods, goods infringing intellectual property rights, and the sale of expired or origin-unclear products to the consumption of smuggled goods and goods without invoices or documentation, creating significant challenges for enforcement agencies.

According to National Steering Committee 389, in the third quarter of 2025 alone, authorities nationwide detected, seized, and handled more than 31,000 cases related to smuggling and trade fraud. State budget revenues exceeded VND3.6 trillion (US$144 million), while criminal proceedings were initiated in 462 cases involving 915 individuals, reflecting increases in both the scale and sophistication of violations.

Tighter regulations and controls

According to Le Thi Ha, Head of the Division for E-Commerce Management at the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency, current regulations on seller identity verification under the E-Commerce Law are very strict. All sellers are required to have a tax identification number linked to electronic identity verification, which must be associated with both the tax ID and the seller’s platform account. Sellers are not allowed to use another person’s payment account and may only use their own account on the platform. As a result, traceability has improved significantly, making this a stringent provision and an important step forward.

Notably, the E-Commerce Law stipulates that if product information posted on a platform differs from the goods actually received by buyers, the platform operator bears direct responsibility for accepting the return of defective goods. This obligation is significantly stronger than those under the current decree and earlier regulations. However, challenges remain in reconciliation and inspection. Under existing rules, sellers must provide documents proving product origin and quality disclosure when listing goods. In practice, verifying these documents remains difficult, as falsification and imitation are still common.

According to Ha, the agency has proposed measures to relevant management bodies, particularly those responsible for food safety, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals, to make their databases public and connect them with shared databases used in e-commerce. This would enable platform operators to reconcile data more effectively.

She also explained that while online product listings are primarily based on product information, the physical goods behind those listings can be managed through digital connectivity and control mechanisms.

The E-Commerce Law also required that all platform operators, including direct sales platforms, intermediary platforms, social networks, and e-commerce marketplaces, conduct information screening from the outset, before any information was posted, particularly for products at risk of violations, counterfeit goods, and imitation goods.

In recent years, the E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency removed a large number of violating products. In 2025 alone, the agency took down more than 47,000 pieces of information related to products and goods identified as counterfeit, imitation, infringing intellectual property rights, or showing signs of violations. Previously, this figure had never exceeded 10,000 entries. As such, 2025 could be considered a very high level.

“However, in reality, product removals tend to be repetitive: a product is removed today, and similar products reappear the next day. Particularly for social media platforms, especially cross-border social networks, the removal of violating goods faces even greater difficulties,” Ha added.

The current E-Commerce Law includes specific provisions for e-commerce activities involving foreign elements. In particular, foreign-involved social media platforms that use the Vietnamese language (with a “.vn” domain) or generate more than 100 transactions with Vietnamese consumers are required to comply with special regulations, including the obligation to establish a legal entity in Vietnam.

Where a legal entity is not established in Vietnam but operational commitments exist, such platforms must place a deposit in Vietnam through a commercial bank. This mechanism helps ensure that, when administrative sanctions or takedown requirements arise, foreign-involved platforms are subject to obligations equivalent to those of domestic platforms.