Advertising using the word "best" may be fined up to 40 million VND

Lawyer Nguyen Thi Thuy, YouMe Law Company Limited answers:

Point a, Clause 2, Clause 6 and Point a, Clause 7, Article 50 of Decree No. 87/2026/ND-CP stipulating penalties for administrative violations in the field of culture and advertising (effective from May 15, 2026) stipulates prohibited acts in advertising activities as follows:

2. A fine of 10 million VND to 20 million VND shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

a) Advertising using words "first", "only", "best", "number one" or words of similar meaning without legal documents proving it as prescribed;

6. Additional penalties:

Revoke the right to use the Product Declaration Registration Receipt Certificate for 5 to 7 months; revoke the right to use the Advertising Content Confirmation Certificate for 22 to 24 months for violations of the provisions of point a, clause 2, point b, clause 4, point c, clause 5 of this Article in cases of violations of advertising health protection foods 02 times or more within 06 months.

7. Remedial measures:

a) Forcing the removal, dismantling, deletion of advertising or recall of advertising print newspapers and magazines for acts specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 5 of this Article;

Clause 2, Clause 3 of Decree No. 87/2026/ND-CP stipulates the level of fines and sanctioning authority for individuals and organizations as follows:

2. The penalty level specified in Chapter II and Chapter III of this Decree is the penalty level applied to individuals, except for cases specified in Clauses 2, 5, 6 and 7 of Article 15; Clauses 4, 5, 6 and 7 of Article 16; Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and point b of Clause 5 of Article 33; Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and point b of Clause 5 of Article 34; Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and point a of Clause 5 of Article 35; Articles 57, 58 and 59 of this Decree is the penalty level applied to organizations.

3. For the same administrative violation, the fine for organizations is 02 times the fine for individuals.

Thus, from May 15, 2026, if advertising uses the word "best" without legal documents proving it according to regulations, it may be fined from 10 million VND to 20 million VND for individuals and from 20 million VND to 40 million VND for organizations according to the above regulations.