Opportunity to "export" a lot of products to the EU
At the Vietnam - EU Trade Forum held in Ho Chi Minh City on July 30, experts said: After the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA ) effective in early 2020, 5 Vietnamese industries with strong EU commitment to reduce taxes include furniture, footwear, textiles, seafood and vegetables.
Mr. Le Ky Anh - Representative of the European Union delegation said: EU is the second seafood export market of Vietnam, accounting for 17% of total seafood export value. According to the Vietnam association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, shrimp exports to the EU account for 22% of the proportion, pangasius accounts for 11% and 30-35% of other seafood products.
Delegates attended the Vietnam - EU Trade Forum
For many years, seafood consumption index in the EU market has been much higher than meat, as consumers tend to switch to eating more seafood. EVFTA will create a positive effect on shrimp. Pangasius products currently subject to 9% tax will be reduced to 0% with a 3-year schedule.
When EVFTA comes into effect, seafood products (oysters, scallops, squid, etc.) will be reduced to 0% from 20%. Frozen squid and octopus products currently subject to 6-8% tax rate will immediately drop to 0%, swordfish will earn from 7.5% to 0%.
With preferential tariffs compared to countries that do not have FTAs, Vietnam’s fisheries sector expects to grow well in the coming years.
For the fruit and vegetable industry, the EU is committed to strongly opening Vietnamese vegetables and fruits in EVFTA by immediately removing 94% of the 547 tariff lines of vegetables and fruits and vegetables products when the Agreement comes into effect, in There are many products that are the strength of Vietnam such as fabric, labels, rambutan, dragon fruit, pineapple, melon ...
The majority of EU tariff lines committed to abolishing now all have an average MFN tax rate of over 10%, and particularly, fruit and vegetable products are subject to tax of more than 20%. Thus, this level of commitment of the EU will create a great advantage in prices for Vietnamese vegetables and fruits, especially in the competition of importing into the EU with countries with the same industry in terms of the result of no FTA with the EU such as Thailand, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, ...
With a relatively long tax elimination schedule applied to most fruit and vegetable products, EVFTA gives Vietnamese producers and traders enough time to adapt to the absence of tax barriers.
Vietnamese enterprises must ensure rules of origin when exporting to the EU.
Seriously implement the general commitments
At the Vietnam-EU Trade Forum, many experts from EU member states noted that Vietnamese enterprises on the conditions for aquatic products and vegetables to expand their export market share in the EU must ensure much standard.
Enterprises need to strengthen cooperation and focus on chain linkages to improve productivity, quality, good control of food safety and hygiene; Need to build and develop collective brand, strictly control activities of farming, processing and distribution.
At the same time, applying automation technology, will help quality control and traceability, should actively seek directions to cooperate with foreign partners, technological innovation, investment in deep processing lines, adding value to products, participating in global supply chains.
The representative of the Embassy of Spain stressed: Vietnamese enterprises must ensure rules of origin when exporting to the EU, the rules of traceability of importing countries are increasingly tight and strict. more slot, the risk of Vietnamese goods being "borrowed" exported to the EU has been warned by economic experts. This has caused many implications for Vietnamese goods to be exported to the EU may be subject to high anti-dumping tax.
The issue of food safety and hygiene, meeting EU standards and management procedures, is also noted by representatives of EU embassies. For seafood products other than those mentioned above, it is important to comply with IUU rules on illegal fishing, non-declaration and non-registration. EVFTA will immediately remove 85.6% of tariff lines, equivalent to 70.3% of Vietnam’s export turnover to the EU.
Currently, fresh fruit and vegetables in Vietnam are mainly sold in small stores of Asian people, not yet in big supermarkets. Thus, it can be seen that it is not easy to open and keep the market for each kind of fruit and vegetable in the EU market.
For the EU market, it is necessary to determine that it must meet the requirements at the most rigorous level. Meeting rules of origin or overcoming technical and quarantine barriers is a concern for many businesses.
Enterprises should step by step develop organic products as more and more EU consumers prefer food products produced and processed by natural methods.
For fresh vegetables and vegetables groups, there needs to be a closer link between exporters and producers to ensure that the materials meet the EU food safety standards; It is necessary to implement the export raw material traceability system and production areas must meet VietGAP standards.
