01
Facts from primary sources
On 29 July 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Circular No. 42/2026/TT-BCT, which provides the detailed list of dual-use goods under the Ministry’s management. The Circular takes effect on 12 September 2026. As at the source-review date of 3 August 2026, it had been issued but was not yet in force.
The Annex contains 31 goods categories. These include certain high-power electrical equipment, frequency converters, materials and alloys with specified characteristics, chemicals, composite materials and unmanned aerial vehicles meeting particular technical thresholds.
An entry may identify an HS code, goods description, technical or technological characteristics and a reference classification from the European Union dual-use list. Where only a four- or six-digit HS code is stated, subordinate eight-digit codes may fall within the comparison; where a full eight-digit code is stated, the comparison is confined to that code.
02
Applicable rules
Under Article 7(3) of Decree No. 259/2025/ND-CP, list-based licensing control applies where the HS code, goods description and technical or technological characteristics all match the detailed ministerial list. An HS-code match by itself is therefore insufficient to conclude that a product is controlled.
Decree 259 covers export, temporary import for re-export, merchanting, transshipment and transit of strategic trade goods. A trader may need a permit before undertaking a covered transaction involving dual-use goods that match the detailed list. The Decree provides for shipment-specific and time-based permits, as well as recordkeeping, document-production and notification duties.
Control may also apply outside the list. A permit may still be required where information or reasonable suspicion indicates that goods may be used to develop, produce or use weapons of mass destruction, or where the end user is a designated person. A conclusion that a non-listed product is automatically uncontrolled may therefore be incomplete when the buyer, route or intended use presents warning signs.
The Ministry also encourages businesses to establish an internal compliance programme covering responsibility, end-user and end-use screening, legal updates, training, recordkeeping and notification procedures.
03
THALEX view
In THALEX’s view, Circular 42 confirms that dual-use control is a transaction-assessment process rather than a stand-alone HS-code lookup.
A workable control should examine at least four layers: product classification supported by technical records; the transaction form; the end user and end use; and warning signs such as an unexplained routing change, concealment of the ultimate recipient or inconsistent information.
Sales may know the buyer, engineering the product configuration, logistics the route, and legal or compliance the licensing rules. Unless those facts converge at a common control point, risk may be missed even when each function has completed its own task. Contractual end-use assurances can support information gathering and allocation of responsibility, but they do not replace factual screening or a legally required permit.
04
Limits of reliance
The EU classification codes in Circular 42 are references. Their inclusion does not mean that the entire EU export-control regime automatically governs a transaction in Vietnam.
Whether particular goods are controlled depends on their technical specifications, transaction form, end user, end use and other facts. This article does not determine the legality of any specific transaction or the conduct of any identified person or entity.