Vietnam And Europe Sign Free Trade Agreement To Ensure Good For Garment Industry

Freedom from Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein). Trade Organized by EFTA, the joint FTA research group, after examining the trade and trade in services and the existing investment relationship, concluded that the two sides had the necessity to negotiate a free trade agreement.

According to the seminar held by Vietnam and EFTA in Hu Zhiming City, the research report has been sent to the Vietnamese government and the European Free Trade Association's power and responsibility agency. The two governments will make a decision on whether or not to initiate the free trade agreement.

The contents of the free trade agreement include industrial products, agricultural products, rules of origin, trade facilitation, trade remedy, health and plant health measures and trade technical barriers. In addition, other topics such as service trade Investment, intellectual property rights, sustainable development, technical cooperation and market economy will also be discussed in future consultations.

According to Sveinung Roren, deputy director of the Department of trade policy of the Ministry of industry and trade of Norway, the consultation on free trade agreements between Vietnam and EFTA is expected to start in the summer, and the time required for consultation is about 1 to 2 years.

After the signing of the agreement, Vietnam will increase its export products to the members of the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA), including footwear, clothing, handicrafts, wood products, aquatic products and agricultural products. EFTA members will also enjoy preferential tariffs on Vietnam, including fishery products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, industrial products and banking, shipping and other service industries.

Vietnam textile and Ready-made clothes LE VAN DAO, the vice-chairman of the association, recommended that EFTA adopt rules of origin similar to EU for Kampuchea, Laos and Bangladesh, that is, Vietnam's preferential tariffs should be granted by process rather than by self-determination rate.

The bilateral trade between Vietnam and EFTA increased dramatically. The bilateral trade volume in 2008 amounted to only 800 million US dollars. In 2009, the bilateral trade reached 2 billion 700 million, growing 330%. Last year, it was as high as 3 billion 400 million.