Decree 396/2026/ND-CP, signed October 26, 2026, and effective December 12, 2026, moves registry accounts and domestic carbon-credit project approvals from ministries to provincial People’s Committee chairs. For developers, the change is practical: the same five-working-day clock, but a different office and deadlines that are now set at the provincial level.
Document facts
Issuing body: Government of Vietnam
Document number: Decree 396/2026/ND-CP, amending and supplementing Decree 06/2022/ND-CP on greenhouse gas mitigation and ozone layer protection, as amended by Decree 119/2025/ND-CP, Decree 83/2026/ND-CP and Decree 112/2026/ND-CP
Signed: October 26, 2026
Effective: December 12, 2026
Status: Enacted, not yet in force; takes effect December 12, 2026
Unofficial English summary for reference only. Not a legal translation and not legal advice. The Vietnamese text linked at the end of this page is authoritative.
What the document does
Decree 396/2026 amends Decree 06/2022/ND-CP on greenhouse gas mitigation. It does two things. First, it rewrites Clause 2 of Article 18, which determines the authority for granting accounts on the National Registration System, the registry for emission quotas and carbon credits. Second, it rewrites Clauses 6 to 9 of Article 20 and adds Clause 10, moving project registration, participant changes, deregistration and credit granting under the domestic carbon-credit mechanism from line ministries to the provincial chair where the project is located.
The decree also replaces six forms in Appendix V, abolishes Forms 11 and 12 and Clause 3 of Article 20a, and transfers forest carbon procedures to be governed by Decree 180/2026/ND-CP of May 21, 2026. MAE will guide provincial chairs on the new procedures, in conjunction with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Construction. Nothing in the decree changes what a carbon credit is or the 30 percent offset ceiling. The change is about who decides, and where the records are kept.
What changes in practice
For an account under the Article 20a(1)(c) mechanism, the filing route changes completely. The dossier, Form 01 with the program or project documents and contact details, must now be submitted to the Provincial Public Administration Service Center, in person or by post, or online through the National Public Service Portal or the VNeID app. The provincial chair grants the account within five working days, or states the reasons for refusal. Registry access follows the electronic identification and authentication law.
For a domestic-mechanism project, the new Article 20 procedure operates on fixed timelines: three working days to confirm the dossier is valid (up to ten to complete an invalid one), one to publish it for comment, 22 working days of consultation with the other provinces where the project is located, and five to notify the applicant. If the other provinces agree, the applicant has 60 days to submit the completed dossier with its appraisal report; the chair then has three working days to seek opinions (seven working days for replies) and five working days to evaluate and approve or adjust the registration by decision. If a province does not agree, the chair refuses the registration and states why.
The other procedures follow their own timelines: participant changes within seven working days, deregistration within 22, and credit granting within three working days for validity checks, three for seeking opinions and ten for a final decision.
What changed from the previous rules
Under Decree 119/2025, Article 18(2)(b), organizations under the Article 20a(1)(c) mechanism filed with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, and the ministry granted the account within five working days. Decree 396/2026 moves the filing to the provincial service center and the grant to the provincial chair. The five-working-day clock is unchanged. This is the headline decentralization, and the main change for account registration is the office.
The second change is larger. Under Decree 119/2025, Article 20(3), the line ministries were responsible for method recognition, project registration, participant changes, deregistration and credit granting. Decree 396/2026 moves all of them to the provincial chair and integrates the full timetable into the decree for the first time. The consultation step and the fixed timelines are new; the decentralization of the decision is the core change.
What carries over unchanged: MAE still grants accounts for quota-allocated facilities, for organizations under the Article 20a(1)(a) and (b) mechanisms, and for forest carbon projects spanning two or more provinces. The five-working-day account clock, the definition of a carbon credit (one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent) and the registry as the single record of ownership are unchanged.
Who is affected
The first circle is domestic-mechanism project developers across sectors under Article 20. From December 12, 2026, they deal with the provincial chair where their project is located, not with a ministry in Hanoi. The second circle is organizations under the Article 20a(1)(c) mechanism, which file account registration at the provincial service center or online. The third circle is forest carbon developers, whose procedures now follow Decree 180/2026/ND-CP. Quota-allocated facilities are unaffected: MAE still grants their accounts. The fourth circle is the provinces: 34 provincial chairs take on registration, consultation, evaluation, and credit granting, with guidance from MAE still to come.
Notes for investors and operators
The most important planning fact is the date: the new rules take effect on December 12, 2026, and until then the old ministry-level rules still apply. Do not file under the new route early: a dossier sent to a province before the effective date has no legal basis, and a dossier received by a line ministry before August 1, 2026, continues under the rules in force at receipt, with no resubmission required.
Second, the 22-working-day consultation is now a fixed part of the calendar. Plan for a process measured in months rather than weeks, and treat the agreement of the other provinces as a real approval step, not a formality.
Third, the filing channel matters: the National Public Service Portal and the VNeID app are now named filing routes alongside the provincial service center. Confirm electronic identification arrangements before the effective date.
What businesses should do next
Organizations in the Article 20a(1)(c) mechanism: from December 12, 2026, file account registration at the provincial service center or online, instead of with MAE. Expect a decision within five working days.
Domestic-mechanism project developers: from December 12, 2026, register, adjust or deregister projects and apply for credits through the provincial chair where the project is located. Note the 22-working-day consultation and the 60-day window.
Forest carbon project developers: procedures now follow Decree 180/2026/ND-CP.
Organizations whose dossier reached the line ministry before August 1, 2026: no resubmission is needed.
Provincial agencies and their advisers: watch for the implementation guidance MAE is tasked to issue with the two ministries.
Sources and the official text
Full text of Decree 396/2026/ND-CP (Vietnamese), LuatVietnam legal database: Decree 396/2026/ND-CP (Vietnamese)
Government Portal summary of Decree 396/2026/ND-CP (Vietnamese), chinhphu.vn: Government Portal summary (Vietnamese)
Decree 119/2025/ND-CP, Article 18 and Article 20 (English), LuatVietnam, for the previous rules: Decree 119/2025/ND-CP (English)
Note: the Official Gazette (Cong Bao) text and the Thu Vien Phap Luat page for Decree 396/2026 had not been published when this explainer was written. The links above will be updated when they appear.
About this explainer: VoltViet prepared this summary in English from the official Vietnamese text so that investors and operators can follow what the document does. It is a reading aid, not a translation of record and not legal advice. Where any wording here differs from the Vietnamese text, the Vietnamese text governs. For decisions with legal or financial consequences, rely on the official text linked above and take advice from a qualified Vietnamese lawyer.
Related reading
More explainers from the Policy & Law desk, and reporting from the Green Economy desk. See also our explainers on the rulebook this decree amends: Decree 119/2025: Vietnam’s Carbon Market Rulebook, Decree 29/2026: Vietnam’s Carbon Exchange Rules and From Decree 06 to Decree 83: Vietnam’s Carbon Rulebook. And our report on the exchange in practice: Seven Trades and 1,310 Allowances: Vietnam’s Carbon Exchange Finds Its First Price.
