WHAT HAPPENED
Vietnam is moving from spot checks to systemic pressure on the weight-loss and dietary supplement segment. The key document is Decree 87/2026, which took effect on May 15, 2026: it tightens liability for false advertising, including functional foods and dietary supplements, and introduces administrative fines for advertising violations involving food supplements ranging from 5 to 30 million dong. In parallel, the Ministry of Health has strengthened post-market control: according to materials from provincial health departments published by Vietnam.vn in July 2026, hundreds of warnings and recalls of unsafe supplements have been recorded in 2026.
The crackdown was prompted not only by market growth but also by high-profile criminal cases. On April 26, 2026, Ho Chi Minh City police arrested a married couple producing functional weight-loss products under the EMO'S brand with added sibutramine, a banned substance — as reported by Tuoi Tre. Legal reviews, in particular Legal500, link this incident to a broader crackdown on counterfeits in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical market.
The third element is marketplace requirements. According to consulting firm MWY Consulting, marketplaces (in particular Shopee Vietnam) require supporting import documents and pre-moderation of advertising content before dietary supplements can be listed, and some platforms prohibit "hand-carried" imports of supplements. Registration of a declaration with the Vietnam Food Administration (VFA) under the Ministry of Health formally takes 21 working days, but in practice the timeline stretches when revisions are needed — as confirmed by Medibase.
WHAT IT MEANS
For Russian sellers, the Vietnamese weight-loss segment was attractive because of its short supply cycle and low entry threshold: often these were small batches purchased directly from local manufacturers or through intermediaries in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The new rules break exactly this model. Goods without a conformity declaration registered with the VFA now risk failing not only customs but also marketplace pre-moderation — meaning a purchased batch can get stuck in a warehouse with no sales channel.
The second effect is a higher cost of entry. Legalizing a product requires a Vietnamese legal entity or a local importer partner, preparation of a dossier, laboratory protocols, and time for registration. According to Medibase estimates, the formal procedure alone takes about 21 working days, and with revisions the real cycle can take two to three months. For a seller who previously brought in "trial" batches of 200–500 units, this means the test-purchase model effectively stops working: certification costs do not pay off on a small volume.
The third effect is a redistribution of the assortment. Categories with a high share of counterfeits and aggressive advertising ("fat burners," "appetite blockers," products promising rapid weight loss) carry the highest risk. According to NutraIngredients (January 2026), it was counterfeiting and the illegal addition of banned substances such as sibutramine and phenolphthalein that triggered the regulatory tightening. Russian sellers should reconsider their bet on "high-impact" SKUs and shift toward products with transparent formulations and documentation.
The fourth effect is pressure on purchase prices. Manufacturers that complete registration bear additional costs and pass them on in their prices. At the same time, "gray" suppliers that offered low prices are leaving the market. As a result, the average purchase price of a legal Vietnamese weight-loss supplement will rise, and the margins of the "cheap Vietnam + Russian marketplace" model will shrink. Public sources do not yet provide exact figures for 2026, but the direction is obvious: the market is consolidating around suppliers with a complete document package.
VIETSMART EXPERT COMMENTARY
In our Ho Chi Minh City operations, we have seen this shift since the beginning of 2026. Partners who previously brought in supplements "to order" in small batches increasingly come with the same question: how to obtain a VFA declaration quickly and not lose goods already purchased. The most common mistake is buying a batch before the supplier's documents have been verified. We have seen cases where a seller presented an old certificate for a different formulation, and after a formula change the product effectively became unregistered. If I were a Russian entrepreneur, I would start not with finding a new supplier but with auditing what is already in transit and in the warehouse.
The second practical point is advertising. Decree 87/2026 targets claims, not the product itself. Russian product listings often copy Vietnamese marketing phrasing about "minus 10 kg in a month" — and it is precisely such texts that become grounds for complaints. We recommend rewriting content with neutral wording and keeping supporting documents for every claim about composition.
CONCLUSIONS AND WHAT TO DO
The restrictions are already in force, so the action plan must be built not "before entry into force" but with the current date in mind. Below is a checklist we would go through with every partner in the supplements and weight-loss category.
- Audit your assortment. List all SKUs in the "weight loss" and "supplements" categories and flag those without a valid conformity declaration registered with the VFA. Freeze undocumented SKUs until confirmation.
- Request a document package from the supplier. You need: a VFA declaration, laboratory test protocols, import confirmation, and the current formulation. Verify that the certificate was issued for the current formulation, not a previous version of the product.
- Rewrite your advertising content. Remove promises of specific weight loss and medical claims. Check listing texts against the requirements of Decree 87/2026 — fines for supplement advertising violations reach 30 million dong.
- Diversify your supply. Find an alternative supplier with already registered products or consider moving part of the assortment into categories with lower regulatory risk. Do not keep the entire category dependent on a single Vietnamese manufacturer.
- Build legalization timelines and costs into your unit economics. Plan for a registration cycle of at least two months and include these costs in the purchase price — otherwise margins on the first batches will be negative.
Source: Vietnam.vn, October 19, 2026