VN and EU agree on FTA (Free Trade Agreement)

Vietnam and the European Union agree on FTA

The European Union (EU) and Vietnam announced on 4 August 2015 that they have finally reached an agreement in principle for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).  The FTA talks were initiated in October 2012 and has been greatly anticipated and a welcome development in the trade relations between EU countries and Vietnam.

What are some of the key points of the EU-VN FTA?

The EU-VN FTA will eliminate nearly all tariffs, except for a few which be under partial liberalisation through zero-duty Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs)

A few other important chapters of the ground-breaking FTA include social and environmental protection standards, protecting European Geographical Indications, alignment with Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) rules and opening the Vietnamese market for EU services operators.

A few concrete examples listed in the 4 August 2015 press release:

Almost all EU exports of machinery and appliances will be fully liberalised upon implementation of the FTA and the rest after 5 years.

Motorcycles with engines larger than 150 cc will be liberalised after 7 years and cars after 10 years, except those with large engines (>3000cc for petrol, > 2500cc for diesel) which will be liberalised one year earlier.

Car parts will be duty free after 7 years. Roughly half of EU pharmaceuticals exports will be duty free upon implementation and the rest after 7 years.

The totality of EU textile fabric exports will be liberalised.

Close to 70% of EU chemicals export will be duty free upon implementation and the rest after 3, 5 and 7 years.

For more details regarding this topic, you may visit the links below:

http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/vietnam/

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-15-5468_en.htm

For any inquiries regarding DB Schenker’s trade lane development efforts for Vietnam-Europe, please contact the following colleagues in Vietnam:

Jagoda Hanc
European Trade Lane Sales Manager / Route Development Manager
Phone: +84 8 6297 1860 ext. 433
Mobile: + 84 93 888 6030
E-mail: jagoda.hanc@dbschenker.com

Mark Schuster
Head of Sales & KAM
Phone: +84 8 6297 1860 ext. 442
DID : + 84 8 62971893
Mobile: + 84 167 222 9782
E-mail: mark.schuster@dbschenker.com