What are the regulations on providing state secrets to foreign countries?

Legal Consulting Office of Lao Dong Newspaper answers:

Article 16 of the 2025 Law on Protection of State Secrets (effective from March 1, 2026) stipulates the provision and transfer of state secrets to foreign agencies, organizations, and individuals as follows:

1. The authority to decide on the provision and transfer of state secrets to foreign agencies, organizations, and individuals is regulated as follows:

a) The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the President, the Prime Minister, and the Chairman of the National Assembly decide to provide and transfer top-secret state secrets;

b) Heads and deputies of heads who have the authority specified in points a, b, c, d, đ, e, g, h, i and k, Clause 1, Article 11 of this Law decide to provide and transfer state secrets of Top Secret and Confidentiality within their management scope;

c) Ministers, Deputy Ministers of National Defense, Ministers, Deputy Ministers of Public Security decide to provide and transfer state secrets of Top Secret and Confidentiality within their management scope.

2. State secrets are only provided and transferred to foreign agencies, organizations, and individuals participating in international cooperation programs or performing official duties related to state secrets.

3. Foreign agencies and organizations requesting to provide or transfer state secrets must have a written document sent to the Vietnamese agency or organization chairing the international cooperation program or performing official duties related to state secrets. The written request must clearly state the name of the agency, organization, representative of the agency or organization; nationality, passport number, position of the representative; state secrets requested to be provided or transferred; purpose of use, commitment to protect state secrets and not to provide or transfer to a third party without the consent of the provider or transferor.

4. Foreign individuals requesting to provide or transfer state secrets must have a document sent to the Vietnamese agency or organization chairing the international cooperation program or performing official duties related to state secrets. The request document must clearly state their full name; nationality, passport number, contact address; state secrets requested for provision or transfer; purpose of use, commitment to protect state secrets and not to provide or transfer to third parties without the consent of the provider or transferor.

5. Vietnamese agencies and organizations that chair international cooperation programs or perform official duties related to state secrets are responsible for transferring requests from foreign agencies, organizations, and individuals specified in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article to competent persons to decide on the provision and transfer of state secrets.

6. In case of refusal to provide or transfer state secrets, the person with authority to decide on the provision or transfer of state secrets must respond in writing and state the reason.

Thus, from March 1, 2026, the provision and transfer of state secrets to foreign agencies, organizations, and individuals is regulated as above.

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