On 26 October 2026, the Government issued Decree No. 396/2026/ND-CP amending Decree No. 06/2022/ND-CP on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the ozone layer (“Decree 396”), which takes effect on 12 December 2026. Accordingly, dossiers relating to projects under the domestic carbon credit exchange and offset mechanism may be submitted online via VNeID or the National Public Service Portal. Decree 396 is expected to have a positive impact on procedures by allowing online submission via VNeID and the National Public Service Portal, which reduces travel costs and time for organizations and enterprises and increases transparency through the public disclosure of dossiers for comments. Specifically:
- Method of submission: Agencies and organizations may choose to submit dossiers by: (i) submitting online via the National Public Service Portal or VNeID; or (ii) submitting in person or by postal service to the provincial Public Administration Service Center (for projects implemented in two or more provinces, dossiers are submitted at one of those provinces).
In addition to registering or adjusting a project, enterprises may also submit dossiers online for the following procedures: changing project participants, cancelling project registration, and requesting the issuance of carbon credits. 
- Project registration dossier: The dossier consists of five types of documents under Forms 04A to 04DD of Appendix V: an application form, the project design document, the project monitoring plan, the sustainable development implementation plan, and contact details.
- Procedure and time limits: The Chairperson of the Provincial People’s Committee of the place receiving the dossier is responsible for processing it:
- Notifying the validity of the dossier within 03 working days from the date of receipt. If the dossier is invalid, the organization has a maximum of 10 working days from the date of notification to complete it;
+) Within 01 working day from the date of receiving a valid dossier, publishing the dossier for public comment for 22 working days, and at the same time requesting the opinions of the Chairpersons of the People’s Committees of the project implementation areas (if any) on their consent to the project registration. If the Chairperson of the Provincial People’s Committee of a relevant locality does not consent, the Chairperson of the Provincial People’s Committee receiving the dossier shall notify the agency or organization of the refusal to approve the registration and state the reasons;
+) Within 05 working days from the end of the comment period, based on the synthesized comments on the electronic information portal and the opinions of the Chairpersons of the Provincial People’s Committees of the relevant localities, the Chairperson of the Provincial People’s Committee receiving the dossier shall notify the submitting agency or organization;
+) The organization shall complete and submit the dossier, together with the appraisal report on the project document (Form 04E of Appendix V), within 60 days from the date of receiving the notification, to the provincial Public Administration Service Center that received the original dossier;
+) Within 03 working days from the date of receiving the completed and valid dossier, the Chairperson of the Provincial People’s Committee receiving the dossier shall request the opinions of the agencies and organizations related to the project’s field of activity. After obtaining the opinions of the relevant agencies (up to 07 working days), within 05 working days from receiving those opinions, the Chairperson of the Provincial People’s Committee shall decide on the approval of the registration and announce it on the National Registry System. If registration is not approved, the reasons shall be stated;
+) Agencies and organizations wishing to adjust the scale or capacity of a registered project shall follow the same procedure as for project registration.
- Other procedures: Changing project participants is resolved within a maximum of 07 working days. Cancelling project registration takes a maximum of 22 working days. Issuing carbon credits comprises the following main steps: checking the validity of the dossier (03 working days), collecting opinions (up to 10 working days), and deciding on the issuance of carbon credits (10 working days).
- Forest carbon projects: The procedures for registering, adjusting, and cancelling the registration of forest carbon projects, and for issuing forest carbon credits under the domestic carbon credit exchange and offset mechanism, shall be carried out in accordance with Decree No. 180/2026/ND-CP dated 21 May 2026 of the Government on forest carbon sequestration and storage services.
- Decree No. 396/2026/ND-CP also repeals Clause 3, Article 20a; replaces six forms (01, 04A, 04G, 05, 06, 07A); and repeals Forms 11 and 12 of Appendix V.
- In addition, dossiers already received by the sector-managing ministry before 1 August 2026 do not need to be resubmitted and shall continue to be processed under the regulations in force at the time of receipt.
