Can agricultural land be transferred in Vietnam?

Can agricultural land be transferred in Vietnam? (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. Can agricultural land be transferred in Vietnam?

According to Clause 1, Article 167 of the Land Law 2013, land users may exercise the rights to exchange, transfer, lease, sublease, inherit, donate, mortgage land use rights and to contribute land use rights as capital in accordance with the Land Law 2013.

Thus, transferring land use rights is one of the basic rights of land users, including agricultural land. Therefore, people have the right to transfer agricultural land when they meet the conditions prescribed by law.

2. What are the conditions for transferring agricultural land?

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 188 of the Land Law 2013, regulations on general conditions when transferring land use rights are as follows:

Land users may exercise the rights to exchange, transfer, lease, sublease, inherit, donate or mortgage land use rights and contribute land use rights as capital when meeting the following conditions:

- Having the certificate, except the case prescribed in Clause 3, Article 186 and the case of receiving inheritance prescribed in Clause 1, Article 168 of the Land Law 2013;

- The land is dispute-free;

- The land use rights are not distrained to secure judgment enforcement;

- Within the land use term.

Particularly for land types such as rice cultivation land, protective forest land, and special-use forest land, the current Land Law stipulates that land use rights cannot be transferred in the following cases:

- Households and individuals not directly engaged in agricultural production may not receive the transfer or donation of paddy land use rights. if:

+ All members of the household are eligible to receive regular salaries; For those who have retired, lost their ability to work, or quit their job to receive social benefits, that household is not allowed to receive a transfer or donation of rice cultivation land.

+ Individuals eligible to receive regular salaries; persons who have retired, lost their ability to work, or quit their job and are entitled to social benefits are not allowed to receive transfers or donations of rice land.

- Households and individuals may not receive the transfer or donation of residential land use rights and agricultural land use rights with regard to the land located in the areas of protection forests, strictly protected zones and ecological rehabilitation zones in special-use forests if they do not live in such protection forests or special-use forests.

3. Cases in which households and individuals may transfer or donate land use rights under certain conditions in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 192 of the Land Law 2013 and Article 40 of Decree 43/2014/ND-CP:

- Households and individuals living in the strictly protected zones or ecological rehabilitation zones in special-use forests and are not able to move out of these areas may only transfer or donate the rights to use residential land or forest land in combination with agricultural, forestry and aquaculture production purposes to households and individuals living in these areas.

- Households and individuals that are allocated residential land or agricultural land in protection forests by the State may only transfer or donate the rights to use residential or agricultural land to households and individuals living in these areas.

- Ethnic minority households and individuals that use land allocated by the State under the support policy may only transfer or donate land use rights 10 years after land allocation decision is issued if the commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where the land is located certifies that they no longer need to use the land because they move from the commune, ward or township where they reside to other places or they shift to do other trades or they no longer have working capacity.

- Organizations and individuals may not acquire or be donated land use rights from ethnic minority households or individuals that use land allocated by the State under the support policy if the latter do not fall in the cases eligible for transfer or donation of land use rights as prescribed above

Nguyen Ngoc Que Anh

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