EVFTA brings myriad opportunities for Vietnam exporters: official
The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), two months after taking effect, has brought back several opportunities for Vietnamese exporters, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh at a conference held in Ho Chi Minh City on October 17.
At the function that reviewed the conduction of the EVFTA’s rules of origin, Khanh named aquatic goods as the most-benefited product since the beginning. In August and September, the export of fishery products to the EU and UK reeled in about US$263 million, up 17.1% against the same period last year.
Meanwhile, in September, rice exports brought back US$1.74 million, increasing 168% from August.
As heard at the event, authorised organisations have so far issued close to 15,000 certificates of origin (EUR.1 movement certificate) for exported products worth nearly US$700 million. Most of these goods, including footwear, fishery, plastic, coffee, and garment-textile products, have been shipped to EU’s countries like Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and French.
Khanh said the export growth means Vietnam has made a good use of tariff incentives to expand export markets.
However, despite preferential tariff, the penetration of the EU market still face difficulties and Vietnamese enterprises need to meet a series of non-tariff barriers from the bloc, including rules of origin.
According to Nguyen Cam Trang, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Import-Export Department, in addition to the assessment of the conduction of the EVFTA’s rules of origin, related agencies and localities have also worked to spread information on policies targeting exports to the EU, and promptly clear questions on the rules from associations and exporters.
