On the morning of 3 November 2026 Deputy Prime Minister Hồ Quốc Dũng chaired a meeting on the trouble car and motorcycle makers have had with Nghị định 101/2026/NĐ-CP, the decree that put low-emission-standard vehicle production technology on the restricted and banned technology-transfer lists. That afternoon the Government press office published the decision he had signed four days earlier, on 30 October 2026: Quyết định 49/2026/QĐ-TTg, which rewrites how the state decides whether an investment project is running on outdated, polluting or resource-hungry technology. The two stories are the same story. The banned-transfer list that the automakers are arguing about is now, expressly, one of the tests in the new procedure.
What the document is
Quyết định 49/2026/QĐ-TTg is a Prime Minister’s decision, 12 articles plus an annex of ten forms, issued on the proposal of the Minister of Science and Technology. Its full title is Quy định hồ sơ, trình tự, thủ tục xác định dự án đầu tư sử dụng công nghệ lạc hậu, tiềm ẩn nguy cơ gây ô nhiễm môi trường, thâm dụng tài nguyên. It takes effect on 15 December 2026 and from that date repeals Quyết định 29/2023/QĐ-TTg of 19 December 2023, the previous procedure, together with Điều 4 of Quyết định 02/2026/QĐ-TTg of 8 January 2026, which had trimmed that procedure as part of the ministry’s administrative-reform package.
The legal basis has moved. The 2023 decision rested on the 2020 Investment Law and Nghị định 31/2021/NĐ-CP. The new one cites the Luật Đầu tư số 143/2025/QH15, passed on 11 December 2025 and in force since 1 March 2026, and its implementing decree, Nghị định 96/2026/NĐ-CP of 31 March 2026. Điều 3 of the decision also folds in the technology-transfer law: a project is now examined not only against the technical criteria in khoản 15 Điều 28 of Nghị định 96 but also for whether its technology “belongs or does not belong to the list of technologies banned from transfer”.
Why the finding matters
The procedure exists for one reason. Under điểm a khoản 5 Điều 31 of the Investment Law, a project that uses outdated, polluting or resource-intensive technology cannot have its operating term extended. Khoản 15 Điều 28 of Nghị định 96 says what that means in practice:
- a production line that fails the national technical regulations on safety, energy saving or environmental protection, or whose remaining capacity or efficiency is below 85% of design, or whose consumption of materials or energy exceeds design by more than 15%;
- standalone machinery under HS Chapters 84 and 85 that fails the same tests;
- any technology on the banned-transfer list under technology-transfer law.
Where no Vietnamese regulation exists, the yardstick is a Vietnamese national standard or a national standard of a G7 country or South Korea. Khoản 16 of the same article assigns the work: the Ministry of Science and Technology leads for projects whose investment policy is approved by the National Assembly or the Prime Minister, and the provincial science and technology agency leads for everything else. The state budget pays, except that if the project does win an extension, the investor pays the whole cost. The dossier, order and procedure were left to the Prime Minister, and that is what Quyết định 49 supplies.
What changes in the screening procedure
The dossier is unchanged in substance: a request on Mẫu số 01, a statement of the current state of the technology on Mẫu số 02, and a valid inspection certificate for the machinery, equipment and production line on Mẫu số 03. The certificate still lasts 12 months from issue.
Everything around the dossier has been tightened.
- Filing is now listed online first, through the Cổng Dịch vụ công quốc gia, with in-person and postal filing as alternatives. Components that have been authenticated, digitally signed or can be pulled from a state information system need not be re-submitted on paper.
- Incomplete files filed by post or online must draw a written notice within 02 working days, and the notice must now state the file name and receipt date, each component to be fixed and why, the deadline, and the name of the unit and officer handling it. In-person filers are guided or refused on the spot under the one-stop-shop rules.
- Consultation of the environmental authority and the sector regulator still starts within 03 working days of a complete file, but those bodies and any independent experts now have 05 working days to reply, not 15.
- For large or technically complex projects the lead agency may still set up a Hội đồng tư vấn khoa học và công nghệ within 20 working days and inspect the site. The council now has operating rules: it decides by majority, in session or in writing, records every dissenting view in minutes, and is answerable in law for its advice. Experts must still make up at least one third of its members. Where the ministry leads, the provincial science and technology agency sits on the council in place of the former Sở Khoa học và Công nghệ.
- The lead agency issues its written finding on Mẫu số 04 within 05 working days of the last opinion arriving.
- A new điểm g says that lawful, still-valid inspection or appraisal results on safety, energy efficiency or environmental protection, issued by a state body or a designated inspection organisation, must be used and referred to, with no re-assessment of what they already cover unless there is reason to doubt them.
On paper the 2023 process could take about 26 working days from a complete file to a finding; the new one can be done in about 13 working days, or 20 if a council is convened.
What changes for inspection bodies
The ministry remains the only authority that designates the organisations whose certificates feed the dossier. The designation track has been shortened and lengthened at once.
| Step | Quyết định 29/2023 | Quyết định 49/2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Notice of incomplete file | 03 working days | 03 working days, with reasons |
| On-site capability assessment | within 30 days | within 15 working days |
| Corrective-action report by applicant | 30 days | 22 working days |
| Designation decision after corrections | 10 working days | 07 working days |
| Validity of designation | 03 years | up to 05 years |
| Re-application before expiry | 90 days | 60 days |
| Refusal notice | written, no deadline | 07 working days, with legal basis and what to fix |
The dossier for designation drops the copy of the inspection-activity registration certificate, since eligibility is now defined by reference to the law on product and goods quality, but the accreditation certificate for inspection capability, which was optional in 2023, is now a required component. Bodies already designated to inspect imported used machinery under foreign-trade law can still register to add investment-project inspection to their scope. The on-site assessment continues to test compliance, the authenticity of the file, maintenance of a management system meeting TCVN ISO/IEC 17020 or ISO/IEC 17020, and the competence of the inspectors.
New duties on the ministry
Điều 8 gives the Ministry of Science and Technology two tasks the 2023 decision did not: build, manage and operate a database serving technology determinations and machinery inspections, “prioritising connection to and reuse of existing data infrastructure”, and share its contents with other ministries on request under the data law, subject to state secrets, business secrets, personal data and information security rules. Until the database is connected, the ministry must supply data in writing when a competent authority asks. Ministries that want access must name a focal point and the scope of data they need. The annual reports from provinces (Mẫu số 09) and from inspection bodies (Mẫu số 10) remain due before 20 December each year.
Transition
Điều 11 keeps everything already in motion. Files received before 15 December 2026 keep the steps already completed, including consultation opinions and council conclusions, and are judged against the criteria in force when they were filed. Pending designation applications finish under the 2023 rules. Existing designations run to their expiry date, and certificates issued under the 2023 decision remain usable until they expire, with a supplementary inspection required only where a certificate does not cover all the criteria that apply at filing.
Who is affected and what to do
The immediate audience is any factory owner whose project term is approaching its end and who wants an extension, since this finding is a gate on that application. The procedure also matters to the two dozen or so inspection organisations designated by the ministry, which should plan re-applications 60 days before expiry rather than 90 and can expect five-year rather than three-year terms. Provincial science and technology agencies get a faster clock and a formal database to feed.
For businesses the practical steps are simple: keep safety, energy-efficiency and environmental inspection results current, because they will now be reused rather than repeated; file through the national portal to avoid paper re-submission; and check whether any part of the production technology appears on the banned-transfer list in Nghị định 101/2026, because that list is now an explicit criterion.
Open questions
The link to Nghị định 101 is where the questions sit. At the 3 November meeting the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed that the automotive technologies on the restricted and banned lists stay there, but promised three protections: contracts signed before 1 April 2026 continue, plants already using listed technology may keep producing on their existing lines, and new products may be built on existing technology. Quyết định 49 says nothing about those assurances. A plant running Euro 4 production technology that is on the banned list could, on the face of criterion c, be found to use outdated technology when it seeks to extend its term. How the lead agencies read the Deputy Prime Minister’s three assurances against the text of khoản 15 Điều 28 will decide whether this becomes a live dispute, and the ministry has been told to keep collecting complaints and report back.
Sources
- Quyết định 49/2026/QĐ-TTg, signed text with ten forms (Government portal, PDF)
- Quyết định 49/2026/QĐ-TTg, document record with signer and effective date (vanban.chinhphu.vn)
- Thủ tục xác định dự án sử dụng công nghệ lạc hậu, tiềm ẩn nguy cơ ô nhiễm môi trường (Báo Chính phủ, 3 November 2026)
- Chỉ đạo, điều hành của Chính phủ, Thủ tướng Chính phủ ngày 03/11/2026 (Báo Chính phủ)
- Phó Thủ tướng Hồ Quốc Dũng chỉ đạo tháo gỡ vướng mắc trong thi hành Luật Chuyển giao công nghệ (Báo Chính phủ, 3 November 2026)
- Nghị định 96/2026/NĐ-CP of 31 March 2026 implementing the Investment Law, full text (Apolat Legal mirror, PDF)
- Quyết định 29/2023/QĐ-TTg of 19 December 2023, the repealed procedure, full text (Caselaw)
- Trình tự, thủ tục xác định dự án sử dụng công nghệ lạc hậu, nguy cơ gây ô nhiễm môi trường, on Quyết định 29/2023 (Báo Chính phủ, 22 December 2023)
- Văn bản hợp nhất 138/2026/VBHN-VPQH, the Technology Transfer Law as amended by Luật 115/2025/QH15 (Government portal, PDF)
- Nghị định 101/2026/NĐ-CP of 31 March 2026 implementing the Technology Transfer Law (LuatVietnam)
- Cân nhắc lại thời gian giải quyết thủ tục xác định dự án đầu tư sử dụng công nghệ lạc hậu, VCCI comments on the 2023 draft (Diễn đàn Doanh nghiệp)
This post is general information, not legal advice.