Draft decree proposes roughly tenfold reduction in penalties for environmental protection violations

A draft decree regulating administrative penalties in the field of environmental protection—replacing Decree 45/2022/NĐ-CP—is being consulted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The draft includes amendments to penalties for violations related to fulfilling recycling responsibilities by manufacturers and importers, and for breaches of waste treatment obligations, aiming to align the framework with current environmental law.

Cause: penalty framework adjusted for consistency

The drafting agency says penalties under the current Decree 45/2025 are too high compared with similar provisions in the same draft decree. It therefore proposes reducing penalties by about tenfold, while still maintaining deterrence and fairness among enterprises based on the volume of waste to be recycled.

Development: “additional penalty” linked to misdeclared volumes

The draft introduces an “additional penalty” for misdeclared or misreported recycling contributions. This additional penalty equals 20% of the portion of the registered volume that is misdeclared or misreported, multiplied by the annual recycling cost standard for the responsible party. The draft also sets a cap of 1,000,000,000 VND per violation.

Key proposed fines and late-payment penalties

The draft specifies several penalty ranges depending on the type and timing of the violation:

• 10,000,000–30,000,000 VND for failing to register a recycling plan, failing to submit a declaration of recycling contributions, or reporting results late by 31–90 days.
• 30,000,000–50,000,000 VND if overdue by 91–274 days, or 275 days or more (including cases where the unit had already declared the contribution before the supervisory decision).
• 50,000,000–100,000,000 VND for failing to register a recycling plan, failing to submit the declaration, failing to report results as prescribed, or registering but reporting late beyond 275 days after inspection decisions.
• 5,000,000–10,000,000 VND for violations related to registering a recycling plan or misreporting.
• 10,000,000–15,000,000 VND for misreporting to increase the recorded recycling volume.
• 5,000,000–10,000,000 VND for violations of mandatory recycling rates or mandatory recycling forms when the recycled quantity meets the standard.
• Late payment penalty: 0.05% per day on the late amount, capped at 1,000,000,000 VND.

Comparison with current Decree 45/2025

Under the current Decree 45, penalties range from 900,000,000–1,000,000,000 VND for not fulfilling recycling responsibilities or for not paying or reporting contributions on time. The draft proposes substantially lower ranges for the corresponding violations.

Impact: penalties also cover recyclers and counting rules

The draft also targets recyclers engaged by producers/importers or by recycling organizations without a proper environmental license (or with only a partial license), with proposed penalties of 100,000,000–300,000,000 VND. It further provides that penalties apply to units using the same recycled material results to count toward multiple producers/importers.

Additional policy elements and timeline

The draft addresses reducing the suspension period for polluting sources or violating facilities. It also references discussions on the formation and development of recycling parks and the broader recycling ecosystem in Vietnam, alongside mandatory recycling rate rules for different product groups.

The effective date for the new rules is anticipated to be 25 May 2026, clarifying who must recycle, how, and the mandatory recycling rates for packaging, batteries, tires, electronics, and road vehicles.