In chemical management, the biggest risk to a business sometimes does not start with a chemical incident, but from the gap between what the business is operating and what the legal records represent. A restockpile, a line that has been adjusted, chemical inventory has increased, a chemical safety sheet has not been updated or the declaration data no longer matches reality are all risks to the business of the business.
The common approach to administrative sanctions is to convert risk into money: what acts can be fined and what is the maximum fine.
From August 25, 2026, Decree 275/2026/ND-CP on sanctioning administrative violations in the field of chemicals and industrial explosives (Decree 275) officially takes effect. The new Decree not only raises the penalties for many acts, but also expands the scope of violations, strengthens additional sanctions and remedial measures, and delimits the jurisdiction to more agencies. Therefore, the consequences of a compliance failure may not stop at a fine, but in some cases also directly affect the right to use licenses, storage, use, production or trading of chemicals.
When a mistake no longer only leads to a fine
The common approach to administrative sanctions is to convert risk into money: what acts can be fined and what is the maximum fine. With Decree 275, this approach may no longer be adequate.
Some violations, in addition to fines, can also lead to the suspension of part or all of operations, deprivation of the right to use licenses, certificates or certificates, confiscation of material evidences and vehicles, and the application of remedial measures. For manufacturing enterprises, this is a huge difference between "cost of violation" and "operational risk".
For example, the condition of the chemical warehouse seems to be a purely technical problem. But under the new mechanism, trading chemicals without an inventory or without renting a warehouse of a subject that meets the conditions can lead to significant fines; the production of chemicals without a warehouse is also subject to higher sanctions. More notably, these cases can also be accompanied by a three- to six-month suspension of operations.
Similarly, the failure to develop a hazardous chemical control process in the production of products and goods containing hazardous chemicals not only creates an obligation to pay fines. The use of infringing chemicals is also likely to be suspended for one to three months.
With a factory operating continuously, the economic consequences of several months of suspension can be far greater than the fines stated in the decree. Actual costs can include lost output, delayed orders, labor costs during the downtime, obligations to customers, and even impact on the supply chain.
Risks "accumulate" from seemingly small mistakes
Another point that businesses need to pay special attention to is that the chemical obligation system is related and interlinked.
A chemical introduced into a plant may simultaneously involve classification, labeling, Chemical Safety Sheets (MSDS), storage conditions, personnel exposure, training, transportation, incident response plans or precautions, declarations, and data updates. If the chemical continues to exist in the final product, another layer of obligations related to hazardous chemicals in the product may arise.
This presents a significant risk: a weakness in the governance system can manifest itself in various violations.
For example, an enterprise imports a chemical but has not properly classified it. The consequences may not stop at the classification itself. Incorrect classification is likely to lead to inappropriate labeling; inconsistent MSDS; storage measures are incompatible with hazardous characteristics; inappropriate rescue or protective equipment; even the declared data on the system can be false.
Therefore, data on the same chemical should be consistent throughout from import records, classification, MSDS, labels, warehouses, operating procedures to declaration data or not. Because otherwise, this can become one of the most vulnerable points of violation when Decree 275 is applied in practice.
The gap between "existing records" and "actually operating"
Another risk that is often underestimated is that the business has a complete record, but that record no longer reflects the actual situation.
The plant may have expanded. The line has changed. The type of chemical used or the volume of inventory has increased. The equipment has been replaced. But plans, measures, declaration records, or legal data still reflect the state of a few years ago. Decree 275 makes this gap even more dangerous.
For plans and measures to prevent and respond to chemical incidents, sanctions may arise when the facility operating in the category has changed but the corresponding dossier has not been approved or re-issued. Scaling up, changing lines or increasing inventory without adjusting records can also lead to significant fines and in some cases suspension of inventory activities. In many businesses, the production department decides to change the line; the purchasing department changes raw materials; the warehouse adjusts the inventory level; the technical changes to equipment. The legal or compliance department only learns about such changes after they have occurred.
If the internal mechanism still operates in this way, this is a risk according to Decree 275. Therefore, businesses need to switch from the model of "change first – update documents later" to "check legal obligations before changing".
For businesses, the risk is not only "non-declaration", but also that the declared data does not match reality.
When electronic data becomes part of a compliance record
Another notable change is the growing role of the Chemical Specialized Database and electronic platforms.
This changes the nature of inspection activities. In the past, some errors could only be discovered when the inspection team went to the factory and collated paper records. When management data is digitized, state agencies have the ability to collate information over time, between reporting periods and between different data sources.
For businesses, the risk is not only "non-declaration", but also that the declared data does not match reality.
A change in chemical inventory, production, line, import, or product if it appears in the actual trade, customs or operational records but is not reflected accordingly in the chemical database can create a relatively clear trace.
The new Decree also includes many obligations to update data within the scope of sanctions. For plans and measures to prevent and respond to incidents, for example, updating to the database within the statutory time limit becomes part of the compliance obligation.
Outsourcing is not synonymous with risk transfer
Many businesses do not carry out all chemical-related activities themselves. Warehouses can be outsourced. Transportation is handed over to logistics contractors. Training is carried out by the consultant. Product testing is undertaken by an external testing laboratory.
It is easy to lead to the confusion that once a job has been outsourced, the legal risk is also transferred to the supplier. However, this is not the case.
In transportation activities, for example, Decree 275 stipulates in quite detail the requirements for vehicles, tanks, packaging, warning labels, incident response equipment, protective equipment, pre-shipment inspections and documents to be carried.
If the enterprise only requires the contractor to sign a general clause that "complies with Vietnamese law" without checking the license, vehicle inspection status, operator conditions or transportation records, compliance gaps still exist.
Similarly, for chemical safety training, the selection of trainers who do not meet the qualification or experience requirements may create sanctions risks. Training records must also be kept for the period required by law.
Special risks of pre-existing violations
Perhaps one of the issues that businesses need to pay attention to the most during the transition period is the shortcomings that have arisen before August 25, 2026 but have not been overcome.
Not every act that starts before the effective date of Decree 275 naturally applies the old sanctioning mechanism. The determination of applicable regulations also depends on the nature of the act, especially whether the act has ended or is still ongoing.
This is especially important for situations such as unqualified warehouses, mandatory staffing shortages, inappropriate inventory volumes, plans or measures that have not been updated, or control processes that have not been developed.
Decree 275 sets out a more stringent approach to chemical compliance. When sanctions are not limited to fines but can directly impact the production, trading, storage or use of chemicals, seemingly minor deficiencies in records, processes or data can also become significant risks to businesses.
In this context, compliance cannot just be done before an inspection or when a license needs to be renewed. Businesses need to incorporate legal controls into their operations, so that changes in chemicals, lines, products, warehouses or suppliers are identified and dealt with before they become violations.
