Is a batch of chemicals sold from a domestic enterprise to an export processing enterprise an export goods? The answer in principle is yes. But is that why a domestic enterprise applies for a license to export chemicals that require special control? The answer may be no.
If you only look at the concept of "export and import" without determining the correct point of departure, destination and legal regime of goods, it is very easy for businesses to carry out excess procedures or, more dangerously, miss mandatory procedures.
This seemingly small difference is becoming a noteworthy problem for businesses operating in the chemical sector, especially in localities with many industrial parks and export processing zones such as Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai or Long An. The reason lies in the fact that the same transaction can be simultaneously governed by the law on chemicals, trade, foreign trade management and customs. If you only look at the concept of "export and import" without determining the correct point of departure, destination and legal regime of goods, it is very easy for businesses to carry out excess procedures or, more dangerously, miss mandatory procedures.
From "special chemicals" to chemicals requiring special control
The Law on Chemicals No. 69/2025/QH15 has established a new regulatory framework for chemical activities from the beginning of 2026. This new law sets out the general principle that export, import, temporary import, re-export, temporary export, re-import, border transfer, transit and other activities related to the international purchase and sale of goods for chemicals must simultaneously comply with the Law on Chemicals, the Law on Foreign Trade Management and relevant laws.
In addition, Decree 24/2026/ND-CP establishes a list of chemicals covered by the Law on Chemicals, while Decree 26/2026/ND-CP specifies the mechanism for managing chemical activities. For chemicals requiring special control, the law designs a relatively strict licensing mechanism for production, business, export and import activities. Decree 26/2026/ND-CP is currently effective from January 17, 2026.
For ordinary import and export activities subject to licensing, the current procedures have been significantly shortened. According to the reduction and simplification plan approved by the Government in Resolution 19/2026/NQ-CP, valid dossiers are processed in principle within five working days; the license is valid for six months. In case the exported chemical is an industrial precursor subject to notification of export money, there is also the participation of the Ministry of Public Security under a separate mechanism.
If you only stop at these regulations, businesses can come to a fairly natural inference: if they are chemicals that need special control and have been "exported" or "imported", they must apply for a license. But for export processing zones, this inference may not be complete.
Export processing zones in Vietnam but not completely "domestic" in commodity relations
The peculiarity of export processing enterprises lies in the regulations of non-tariff zones.
According to Decree 35/2022/ND-CP, export processing zones and export processing enterprises must be separated from the external territory and meet the conditions for inspection, supervision and control of customs authorities according to the regime applicable to non-tariff zones. More notably, the exchange of goods between export processing enterprises and other regions in the territory of Vietnam that are not non-tariff zones is in principle defined as export and import relations.
Article 28 of the Commercial Law also approaches the same logic. Export is not only the removal of goods out of the territory of Vietnam but also includes the introduction of goods into a special area located in the territory of Vietnam which is considered a separate customs area. In contrast, goods brought from that area into the remaining territory can be considered imported.
It is this legal structure that easily creates confusion.
For example, enterprise A in Ho Chi Minh City sells a chemical that requires special control to export processing enterprise B in the export processing zone. The goods do not leave Vietnam. The transportation distance may be only a few tens of kilometers. However, from the perspective of trade and customs, this transaction has the element of an export-import relationship.
But the fact that a transaction is considered an export or import does not automatically lead to the conclusion that all foreign trade management measures applied to goods imported and exported across national borders must be applied.
This is the legal bottleneck of the problem.
Exporting in terms of customs does not mean having a chemical license
The Law on Foreign Trade Management dedicates a section to regulate goods to separate customs areas. Clause 2, Article 56 stipulates a very noteworthy principle: foreign trade management measures shall not be applied to goods brought from the inland into separate customs areas. However, goods are still subject to the supervision of customs authorities.
This means that, when a domestic enterprise sells chemicals to an export processing enterprise, the law can consider the introduction of goods into an export processing enterprise as export. Enterprises may still have to declare and carry out corresponding customs procedures. However, at the foreign trade management level, the law actively excludes the application of foreign trade management measures to the direction of goods from the inland into a separate customs area.
In other words, the concept of "export" and the obligation to "obtain an export license" are not the same. This distinction is especially important for chemicals that require special control.
Resolution 19/2026/NQ-CP continues to clarify the issue when determining cases of exemption from issuance of export and import licenses for chemicals subject to special control for on-the-spot import and export activities in accordance with the law and the purchase and sale of chemicals between enterprises in separate customs zones and domestic enterprises in accordance with the law on foreign trade management.
This is also the basis cited by the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City in Official Letter 5101/SCT-QLCN.
Thus, at least during the time when the mechanism in Resolution 19/2026/NQ-CP is applied, enterprises should not uniformly identify three concepts: "import and export", "carry out customs procedures" and "apply for a license to export and import chemicals that require special control". These are three related legal issues, but not one.
The direction of the chemical determines the procedure
Businesses need to distinguish the following four situations:
Firstly, chemicals go from the inland to export processing enterprises or separate customs areas.
This is a relationship that is considered as export and import in the commodity relationship between export processing enterprises and the inland. However, Clause 2, Article 56 of the Law on Foreign Trade Management excludes the application of foreign trade management measures to the direction of goods from the inland to a separate customs area. At the same time, Resolution 19/2026/NQ-CP currently provides for exemption from licenses for export and import of chemicals subject to special control for transactions between enterprises in separate customs zones and domestic enterprises.
But "license exemption" does not mean that goods pass through the gate of the export processing zone without being controlled. The Law on Foreign Trade Management still requires goods to be subject to customs supervision, and the law on export processing enterprises still places this relationship of goods in the customs mechanism for non-tariff zones.
Second, chemicals go from export processing enterprises to the country.
This is a dimension that needs to be more cautious. Clause 1, Article 57 of the Law on Foreign Trade Management stipulates that goods from a separate customs area brought into the inland are subject to foreign trade management measures like goods imported from abroad into Vietnam.
However, particularly for chemicals requiring special control, the exemption mechanism designed by Resolution 19/2026/NQ-CP for trading activities between enterprises in separate customs zones and domestic enterprises has created an important exception to chemical import and export licenses. Therefore, enterprises should not always understand that goods from export processing zones into the inland must always apply for chemical licenses; or vice versa, understand that chemical license exemption is exemption from all import management policies.
Thirdly, chemicals from abroad are brought directly into export processing enterprises.
This case has a different logic. Clause 2, Article 57 of the Law on Foreign Trade Management stipulates the principle of not applying foreign trade management measures to goods brought from abroad into separate customs areas, except for measures of import ban, suspension of import and quarantine.
Therefore, the determination of obligations cannot be based solely on the word "import" on the declaration. Enterprises must simultaneously compare the nature of chemicals, the regime of their own customs area and the specialized management measures that are also applied.
Fourth, chemicals from export processing enterprises are sent abroad.
In this direction, Clause 1, Article 56 of the Law on Foreign Trade Management determines that foreign trade management measures are applied as for goods exported from the inland to foreign countries. Therefore, enterprises cannot use the regulation of export processing zones to infer that goods are naturally exempt from export management measures.
The four lines of goods movement can all be called "import and export", but the legal consequences are not the same. This is probably the most important point that businesses need to identify.
Enterprises must therefore determine exactly which obligations are exempted.
Exemption from permits is not exempt from chemical management
Another risk is that businesses read the exemption too broadly.
Resolution 19/2026/NQ-CP exempts the License to export and import chemicals that require special control in some cases. That does not mean that enterprises are exempt from all obligations under the Law on Chemicals.
For example, the current law also sets out requirements related to production and business conditions; loss prevention and control; purchase and sale management; purchase and sale control slips; chemical safety; storage; transportation and other obligations depending on the type of chemicals and specific activities. Circular 01/2026/TT-BCT even designs a separate form of the control sheet for the purchase and sale of chemicals requiring special control and a loss prevention and control plan.
Enterprises must therefore determine exactly which obligations are exempted.
This is a particularly important principle in compliance: exemption from an administrative procedure does not mean exemption from business conditions, exemption from specialized management obligations or exemption from customs inspection and supervision.
Even the obligation to declare imported chemicals needs to be distinguished from the license. The Law on Chemicals 2025 stipulates that organizations and individuals importing chemicals must declare, but at the same time excludes chemicals requiring special control from the declaration obligation in cases under the corresponding management mechanism. Decree 26/2026/ND-CP continues to stipulate specific cases of exemption from declaration.
Therefore, a logistics department only asking "is a license needed?" is not enough to conclude that the shipment has fully met the legal requirements.
Don't let a shipment have to be "excessive" or "short"
From an operational perspective, errors in procedural determination can go both ways.
An enterprise can apply for an excess license because it sees a transaction with an export processing enterprise called export, import and implicitly apply the process for importing and exporting chemicals across the border. As a result, the customs clearance time is prolonged, costs are incurred, and the raw material and production plans are affected.
But more dangerous is the case of exemption from wrong procedures. After knowing that transactions between domestic and export processing enterprises are exempt from licenses to export and import chemicals that require special control, enterprises can infer that there are no other specialized requirements. This interpretation can lead to lack of chemical management records, failure to meet business conditions, wrong customs procedures or failure to perform safety control and loss prevention obligations.
In particular, the 2026 policy is in a fairly strong transitional stage. Decree 26/2026/ND-CP has many transitional provisions for licenses and certificates issued under the old framework and for new chemicals included in the List of chemicals requiring special control. Some transitional mechanisms last until 31-12-2026 or 31-12-2027, as the case may be.
That means businesses should not build a general conclusion that "this chemical is exempt" and then apply it to all future shipments.
A problem that seems to be purely procedural but has great significance for the operation of enterprises: goods do not necessarily have to cross national borders to give rise to export and import relations. When chemicals are brought into or out of export processing zones or customs zones, the legal boundaries of this area can change the nature of the transaction and lead to a completely different system of obligations. Therefore, with chemicals that need special control, the first question that businesses need to ask should not only be "do they have to apply for a license or not?", but "what transaction is this transaction defined by law?". Only when the nature of the flow of goods is correctly determined, enterprises can accurately determine customs procedures, chemical management conditions, cases of obtaining licenses or exemptions and related compliance obligations.
In an increasingly intertwined supply chain between domestic enterprises and export processing enterprises, identifying the true nature of the transaction before carrying out procedures not only helps businesses avoid an unnecessary license, but more importantly, helps avoid missing a mandatory obligation. With chemicals that require special controls, that difference can determine whether a shipment is circulated smoothly or becomes a compliance risk for the entire supply chain.
