Eu Free Trade Agreements Vietnam

Vietnam currently enjoys trade preferences with the EU under the generalised preference system. Trade and investment agreements develop the commercial dimension of bilateral relations BETWEEN the EU and Vietnam, which are grounded and governed by the EU-Vietnam Framework Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation, which came into force in October 2016. On 8 June, the Vietnamese National Assembly approved the agreements by an overwhelming majority, with 457 deputies for the free trade agreement and 462 for the IAP. According to some Vietnamese newspapers, the agreements could come into force in July. At the most fundamental level, the agreements will promote jobs and growth between Vietnam and the EU. The agreements will gradually reduce most tariffs, regulatory barriers and bureaucracy, and encourage EU entrepreneurs to do business and invest in Vietnam. The temporary importation and export of repaired goods is duty-free. This will ensure a level playing field and competition, especially for specialized maintenance services such as aircraft. As part of the EUFVTA chapter on competition, Vietnam and the EU agree to maintain competition law and ensure that the relevant authorities apply these laws in a non-discriminatory and transparent manner. In order to remedy anti-competitive behaviour and promote procedural fairness, the agreement requires the parties not to enter into agreements that could restrict or distort the control or competition of a potential merger and acquisition. However, the impact of Brexit on EU trade and investment is another story.

As the brexit turmoil exacerbates an existential crisis that has been manifesting itself in Europe for some time, there is good reason to believe that Vietnam will continue to reap the benefits of European trade in the years to come. At the regional level, Vietnam is now the EU`s second largest trading partner among all ASEAN members – surpassing its regional rivals Indonesia and Thailand in recent years. Increased trade between the EU and Vietnam also helps strengthen ASEAN`s position as the EU`s third largest trading partner. It took more than eight years and a dozen rounds of dialogue for both sides to negotiate the EVFTA. Nicolas Audier, President of EuroCham in Vietnam, welcomed the results of the vote: “The EVFTA is now more important than ever, as trade wars and a global pandemic disrupt normal affairs on an unprecedented scale. Free, fair and rules-based trade is the best roadmap for economic growth, and Vietnam will now have privileged access to an EU consumer market of around 500 million people who want to do business and invest with a strong, secure and prosperous nation in the heart of Asia. Analysts hope the trade agreement will boost Vietnamese industries, such as manufacturing, to recover from the COVID 19 pandemic. The TFUE marks the second comprehensive trade agreement between ASEAN and the EU and could well serve as a model if the EU decides to pursue free trade agreements (“FTAs”) with other ASEAN countries or with ASEAN as a regional bloc in the future. With TUEFTA, Vietnam is expanding its free trade agreement to another strategic economic and trade partner.

Vietnam currently has bilateral free trade agreements with Japan, South Korea, Chile and the Eurasian Economic Union (of which Russia is a member). It is also a party to six regional free trade agreements concluded by ASEAN member states with China, Hong Kong, India and other countries and is a party to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (PPC) agreement, which includes Australia, Canada, Mexico and New Zealand.