Supplement and sharply increase all fines for violations in publication licenses in Vietnam from December 01, 2020

Violation

Fine

Additional penalty/Remedial measure

Failure to send a written notice to the Ministry of Information and Communications when the publisher's head office is relocated

VND 3,000,000 - VND 5,000,000

(completely new provision)

No

Failure to apply for re-issuance of a license for establishment of representative office of a foreign publisher or a foreign publishing organization in Vietnam when the license is lost or damaged

VND 3,000,000 - VND 5,000,000

(completely new provision)

No

Failure to amend the license for establishment of representative office in Vietnam of a foreign publisher or a foreign publishing organization when changing the representative office’s head, name, or activities

VND 3,000,000 - VND 5,000,000

(completely new provision)

No

Changing one of the following contents without replacement of license for establishment of publisher:

Change of the governing body, change of the name of publisher's governing body or the name of the publisher

VND 5,000,000 - VND 10,000,000

(A warning or a fine of VND 200,000 - VND 500,000 previously)

No

Change of the publisher's organization type

VND 5,000,000 - VND 10,000,000

(VND 1,000,000 - VND 3,000,000 previously)

No

Change of the principles, purposes, readers, and major publications of the publisher

VND 5,000,000 - VND 10,000,000

(VND 1,000,000 - VND 3,000,000 previously)

No

Failure to properly implement the content expressed in the license for establishment of publisher

VND 10,000,000 - VND 20,000,000

(VND 5,000,000 - VND 10,000,000 previously)

No

(suspension of license for 01 - 03 months previously)

Violations against regulations on operating conditions of publisher

VND 10,000,000 - VND 20,000,000

(VND 5,000,000 - VND 10,000,000 previously)

No

(suspension of license for 01 - 03 months previously)

Operating a representative office of the foreign publisher a foreign publishing organization in Vietnam but failure to meet requirements or properly implement the content expressed in the establishment license

VND 10,000,000 - VND 20,000,000

(VND 5,000,000 - VND 10,000,000 previously)

No

(suspension of license for 01 - 03 months previously)

Failure to terminate operation of the representative office when the foreign publisher or foreign publishing organization ceases operation, disbands, or goes bankrupt abroad

VND 20,000,000 - VND 30,000,000

(completely new provision)

No

Continuing to operate representative offices of the foreign publisher or foreign publishing organization in Vietnam but the license has expired

VND 30,000,000 - VND 50,000,000

(completely new provision)

No

Operating representative offices of the foreign publisher or foreign publishing organization in Vietnam without an establishment license

VND 50,000,000 - VND 100,000,000 (VND 70,000,000 - VND 100,000,000 previously)

No

Operating the publisher without a license for establishment of publisher

VND 140,000,000 - VND 200,000,000 (VND 70,000,000 - VND 100,000,000 previously)

Publications must be recalled and illegal benefits must be returned