Improving competiveness of domestic goods
(VOV) - Vietnamese goods are required to conform to the EU’s strict regulations on quality, food hygiene and safety and environmental protection, posing challenges for exports to this lucrative market.
Perfecting standards and conformance on goods will help domestic businesses gain easier access to the EU market and expand to others such as the US, ASEAN and Japan, said Bui Huy Son, Director of the Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), at a seminar in Hanoi on May 7.
The EU has 28 member countries with a total population of 500 million and their GDP is around US$16,000 billion, accounting for one-third of the world’s economy. They consistently impose strict and demanding regulations on food hygiene and safety.
 |
David Martin, Multilateral Trade Assistance Project (Mutrap) expert, said the main technical barrier is common import rules and measures to protect EU consumers’ rights which are set out in five categories: quality, food hygiene, safety for customers, environment protection and labour standards.
According to Mutrap, although Vietnam is drafting a bill on measurement, less than 40% of its standards meet international norms.
To help Vietnamese products compete well in the market, the Vietnamese Government needs to not only raise competitive edge for its businesses but also promptly implement regulations on standards for exported goods.
MoIT statistics show two-way trade between Vietnam and the EU reached US$33.7 billion in 2013, including more than US$24.3 billion from Vietnamese exports. In the first four months of this year, Vietnam’s exports to the market hit US$8.28 billion, an increase of 14.3% over the same period last year.
Vietnam’s main exports are footwear, garment, seafood, handicrafts, bikes, coffee and tea, while its imports include machinery, equipment, technology, garment accessories, steel, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals.
The Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) expected to be signed late this year will bring much benefit for Vietnam’s sectors, in particular garment, footwear and food processing.
Improving regulations and standards for domestic goods will help raise competitive edge and boost exports to the EU and the world, Son concluded.