EU to Sign Free Trade Deal With Vietnam
The European Union and Vietnam will sign a new free trade agreement June 30 that will eliminate almost all tariffs on goods traded between them, the European Commission said in a June 25 press release. The agreement will also address non-tariff barriers between the two countries, and will include requirements for customs and trade facilitation, as well as labor rights and environmental protection.
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According to an EU guide on the new agreement, almost all EU exports of machinery and appliances will be duty free once the agreement takes effect, with staged duty reductions over a period of three to 10 years for a variety of other products, including pharmaceuticals, car parts, motorcycles, chemicals, foods, wines and spirits. “Custom duties will be removed over a transitional period (of a maximum period of seven years for Vietnamese goods and 10 years for EU goods) so that domestic producers can gradually adapt,” the guide said.
EU duties on Vietnamese textiles will be phased out over a period of five to seven years and footwear over seven years. Duty-free tariff rate quotas will be offered for Vietnamese rice. Non-processed shrimp from Vietnam will immediately become duty free in the EU, and Vietnamese catfish will become duty free in three years.
Following the signing of the trade deal, it will then have to be presented to the European Parliament for consent, the EU press release said. Once that consent is given the EU Council can formally conclude the trade agreement and enter it into force. A concurrent investment protection agreement will need to be ratified by individual EU member states, the release said.