The Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), responsible for overseeing gold trading activities, has been appointed as Chairman of the newly established council tasked with formulating and adjusting Vietnam's annual gold import and export quotas.

The SBV is currently seeking public feedback on a draft circular guiding activities related to the production of gold jewelry and fine arts, the minting and trading of gold bullion, as well as the import and export of gold, in accordance with Decree No. 24/2012/ND-CP and the revised Decree No. 232/2025/ND-CP on the management of gold business operations.

This circular will apply to enterprises and credit institutions involved in gold trading within Vietnamese territory, as well as other relevant organizations and individuals.

A key provision of the draft circular is that the establishment and adjustment of the annual quota for gold bullion import and export - and the import of raw gold materials - must be based on macroeconomic conditions, monetary policy targets, and the scale of the national foreign exchange reserves. To ensure transparency and objectivity, the draft calls for the formation of a Gold Quota Council composed of specialized departments within the SBV.

The council will be chaired by the Deputy Governor in charge of gold market oversight. Its members will include department heads from the Foreign Exchange Management Department, Monetary Policy Department, Forecasting and Statistics Department, Financial and Monetary Stability Unit, and the Department for Supervision and Management of Credit Institutions.

The council’s operations will be governed by a regulation issued by the SBV Governor.

The council’s primary responsibility is to advise the SBV Governor in determining and adjusting the total annual quota for gold bullion exports and imports, and for raw gold imports. It will also allocate specific quotas to qualified enterprises and commercial banks.

According to the draft, any enterprise or bank authorized to produce gold bullion must submit a quota application dossier. This includes an official application form, a report on their past gold import/export activity (if applicable), and supporting documentation as required.

Under Article 4 of the revised draft circular, an application for a license to trade gold bullion must include: a standard application form; a list of gold bullion trading locations; a branch operation registration certificate (for enterprises); and confirmation from tax authorities regarding the amount of tax paid from gold trading activities over the past two consecutive years.

Article 5 outlines the requirements for obtaining, amending, or supplementing a gold bullion production license. These include: an application form; proof of charter capital from the enterprise or bank; and internal production regulations. Also required are documents proving that any corrective actions or recommendations specified in past inspections have been fully implemented, if applicable.

Article 7 covers documentation requirements for foreign-invested enterprises applying for licenses to import raw gold materials for the production of gold jewelry and fine art items.

By no later than December 15 of the year preceding the planned import, or whenever additional import volumes are needed, enterprises must submit an application. Required documents include: an official application form, an investment registration certificate, contracts for outsourcing gold jewelry production with foreign partners, a report detailing the past 12 months of import-export and product sales within the Vietnamese market, and other relevant materials as stipulated by the SBV.

Tuan Nguyen