Vietnam Manufacturing Sites: Environmental Checks Before Construction and Operation

Before committing to a Vietnamese factory site, establish which environmental procedure applies to the actual production project. A landlord’s environmental permit is not automatically the tenant’s permission to manufacture. Equally, a factory does not necessarily need both an environmental impact assessment (EIA) and an environmental permit. Current screening rules distinguish these procedures and retain environmental registration for projects outside the permit requirement, unless an exemption applies.1 2

This check belongs alongside the investment planning described in our Vietnam Investment Registration Certificate guide. Give the environmental adviser the proposed processes, capacity and discharge arrangements, not merely the company’s registered business activities.

Start with the rules operating at the project date

The Law on Environmental Protection, as amended, provides the framework. However, Government Resolution 66.19/2026/NQ-CP introduced different EIA and environmental permit screening rules from 18 May 2026. Its environmental annex matters more than a checklist copied from the original 2020 law.1 2

The resolution is scheduled to operate until 28 February 2027, subject to corresponding provisions being superseded earlier by effective legislation. Its conflict rule gives the resolution precedence for the administrative procedures and business conditions it addresses. Recheck the applicable rules if construction or commissioning will occur after that period.3

Prepare a technical screening file recording the production steps, inputs, full planned capacity, land area, industrial wastewater and exhaust flows, treatment systems and discharge destinations. Identify any imported scrap used as production material. These facts determine the route; foreign ownership alone does not.1

Check EIA separately from the operating permit

Under section VI of Annex IX to the resolution, projects inside an industrial park or industrial cluster are excluded from the EIA requirement where the infrastructure project already has an approved EIA appraisal result or an environmental permit. Obtain the actual decision and confirm that the proposed plot lies within the covered infrastructure project. A park’s marketing brochure is not evidence of that condition.1

For a site outside qualifying infrastructure, screen the resolution’s remaining EIA categories. Relevant triggers can include construction projects using at least 50 hectares of land, construction affecting specified protected or environmentally sensitive areas, and certain large-capacity pollution-risk projects that are not subject to environmental permitting. The categories contain exceptions, so floor area or industry name alone is insufficient.1

Where EIA remains required, it is undertaken with the feasibility study or equivalent project documentation. The decision approving its appraisal result is a basis for relevant construction investment decisions and environmental permitting. Treat it as a design-stage task rather than paperwork to complete after building the factory.2

Quantify the environmental permit triggers

Section VII of Annex IX sets different industrial wastewater thresholds for listed sectors and other projects. For listed sectors, including textiles with dyeing, tanning and paper manufacturing with pulping, the trigger is industrial wastewater discharged into the environment requiring treatment of at least 100 cubic metres per day, or exhaust requiring treatment of at least 100,000 cubic metres per hour. For other projects, the industrial wastewater threshold is 150 cubic metres per day, with the same exhaust threshold.1

Hazardous waste recycling or treatment service facilities and projects importing scrap as production material have a separate permit trigger. Simply generating hazardous waste is not the same as providing a hazardous waste treatment service.1

Calculate flows for the overall project, not separately for each investment phase. A phased installation cannot be screened only against the first production line. Where a project requiring a permit has both wastewater and exhaust discharges, the permit must cover both.1

Map flows sent to the park’s central treatment system separately from direct environmental discharges. Have the adviser assess how the actual treatment and discharge arrangement fits the legal wording. Do not assume that a sewer connection removes a permit requirement, particularly where the tenant also has treatment-requiring exhaust or imports scrap.

The Environment Department’s September 2026 response to a paper manufacturer reinforces the need to check discharge flows and scrap imports rather than relying on a production-capacity label.4

Registration is a different route, not no compliance

A project outside the permit requirement may still need environmental registration. Under the resolution, registrable projects with treatment-requiring wastewater discharges of at least 50 cubic metres per day, or dust and exhaust discharges of at least 20,000 cubic metres per hour, register at provincial level. Other registrable projects register at commune level.1

Registration exemptions remain relevant. The implementing decree includes specified exempt activities and a small-waste exemption with cumulative conditions across hazardous waste, ordinary industrial waste, domestic waste, wastewater and exhaust. A small office therefore should not be labelled permit-required merely because it occupies commercial premises. Document the exemption analysis rather than assuming that every non-permitted activity needs registration.5

Exemption from a procedure does not remove the applicable duties to manage waste and control pollution.2

Divide industrial-park responsibilities in writing

The infrastructure developer has responsibilities for shared environmental infrastructure, including separate rainwater and wastewater systems and central wastewater collection and treatment. The tenant has its own duties to connect wastewater in accordance with the system operator’s requirements, manage waste and control dust, exhaust and noise. These are distinct responsibilities under Articles 51 and 53 of the law.2

Before signing the factory lease, request the infrastructure approvals, connection requirements and written confirmation that the operator can accept the proposed wastewater volume and characteristics. Check whether pretreatment is needed and who provides it. Allocate responsibility for connection works, sampling access, maintenance, incident reporting and waste storage.

Inspect the physical arrangements too. Confirm that production wastewater cannot enter rainwater drains and that the proposed exhaust equipment has an authorised location. Keep this technical due diligence separate from entity formation in our Vietnam foreign-investor registration guide.

Put the correct approval into the construction schedule

For a new project requiring a permit but not EIA, Article 42 places permitting before the relevant project or construction investment decision. Where the construction project is outside feasibility-study appraisal by the specialist construction authority, the permit must precede issuance or adjustment of the construction permit. Do not assume environmental permitting always waits until commissioning.2

For an EIA-required project that also needs a permit, the permit must be obtained before trial operation of waste treatment works. The resolution also preserves that timing for projects with an earlier approved EIA that are no longer EIA-required but still need a permit.1 2

Projects requiring neither EIA nor a permit must register before construction under section VI of the resolution, unless exempt. Local filing arrangements also require checking: September guidance for Saigon Hi-Tech Park identifies delegated handling of provincial-level procedures within that park. It is a local arrangement, not a nationwide filing rule.1 6

Build these dependencies into the wider Vietnam market-entry plan, before promising a production start date.

Before-site-commitment checklist

• Record the complete project’s processes, capacity, discharge flows and scrap imports.
• Obtain the infrastructure project’s environmental approval documents.
• Record separate conclusions for EIA, permitting and registration or exemption.
• Confirm wastewater acceptance, pretreatment and tenant-owned pollution controls.
• Identify the filing authority and approval needed before construction or trial operation.
• Re-screen planned changes and any start date extending beyond the resolution’s operating period.

Focused questions

Does an industrial-park EIA exclusion remove the tenant’s permit requirement?

No. The resolution provides a qualifying infrastructure-based EIA exclusion, but environmental permit screening is separate. Test the tenant’s discharges and activities against section VII.1

Can commissioning be treated as unrestricted production?

No. Where waste treatment trial operation is required, it must comply with the environmental permit and applicable environmental requirements. Article 46 treats trial operation as an assessment of treatment performance, not an exemption from discharge controls.2

Should an expansion use the original screening result?

Not without checking it. Compare the revised whole-project flows and activities with the applicable criteria. Article 49 requires re-registration before changes to registered contents, while permit holders must address changes through the applicable reporting and adjustment rules.1 2

References

• 1 Government Resolution 66.19/2026/NQ-CP annexes, Annex IX sections VI and VII
• 2 Official Gazette: Consolidated Law on Environmental Protection 98/VBHN-VPQH, 10 April 2026
• 3 Government explanation of Resolution 66.19/2026/NQ-CP and its effective period, 25 May 2026
• 4 Environment Department response: Environmental permit checks for a medium-capacity paper manufacturer, 19 September 2026
• 5 Consolidated environmental implementing decree 49/VBHN-BNNMT, Article 32 registration exemptions
• 6 Saigon Hi-Tech Park Management Board: Guidance on current environmental procedures, 4 September 2026