Two months after the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effect, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has granted 24,000 sets of the euro .1 certificate of origin (C/O) for Vietnamese goods worth nearly $1 billion to enjoy the EU’s tariff incentives.
Addressing a seminar in HCM City on October 17, deputy minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh said the EVFTA has benefited both Vietnam and the EU, especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic seriously affecting the global economy.
Vietnam’s exports to the EU reached $3.77 billion and $3.54 billion in August and September, up 2.9 percent and 7.9 percent year-on-year, respectively.
“The number of C/Os granted under the EVFTA is much higher than that under the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership. While the EU’s economy has been negatively affected by Covid-19, consumption has declined and gross domestic product has posted negative growth, the increase in Vietnam’s exports to the EU has been encouraging,” Khanh said.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, 10 export items with the highest number of granted C/Os under the EVFTA over the past two months have been footwear, aquatic products, plastic, textiles and garments, coffee, vegetables and fruits, iron and steel, vehicles and tools, rubber and rice.
The EVFTA, which took effect on August 1, eliminates over 99 percent of all tariffs between Vietnam and the EU and partly abolish the rest through limited zero-duty quotas.
Up to 65 percent of tariff lines on EU exports to Vietnam were slashed to zero as soon as the agreement came into force, while the remainder will be phased out gradually over a period of up to 10 years.
Regarding Vietnamese exports to the EU, 71 percent of duties have been abolished since August 1, with the remainder being phased out over a period of up to seven years.
Vietnam Trade Section to Belgium, Luxembourg and EU. Registered in 2020. 