HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement wouldprovide a big impetus to Vietnam's exports to the EU and be key to Vietnamesecompanies penetrating one of the largest and most lucrative markets in theworld, experts have said.

Jean Jacques Bouflet, deputy chairman of EuroCham in Vietnam, said Vietnam isonly the second country after Singapore in Southeast Asia that has “privilegedaccess” to Europe’s 500-million consumer market following the signing of theagreement in June. 

Vietnam is among the top 10 exporters to the EU. It is the EU’s second biggesttrade partner and largest exporter in Southeast Asia.

Speaking at a seminar titled “Identifying the opportunities for trade andinvestment in the context of EVFTA” in Ho Chi Minh City on April 14, Boufletsaid Vietnam’s exports to the EU would increase by 20 percent in a decade and40 percent in the following decade.

EU investment in Vietnam in key sectors such as automobiles and motorcycles,food, agriculture, aquaculture, green growth, transportation, and logisticshave all contributed to its development, he said.

The EVFTA has a very short time frame for tariff reduction with many Vietnameseexports to the EU becoming exempt from tariffs within a few years.

Vietnam's competitors in the region such as China, Thailand and Malaysia havenot signed a trade deal with the EU, but that does not mean they never would,and businesses must move quickly to take advantage while Vietnam is in anadvantageous position, Bouflet said.

Nguyen Son Tra, deputy head of the WTO and trade negotiation division at theMinistry of Industry and Trade’s multilateral trade policy department, said theEU trade deal would be good for Vietnam since right in the first year after thedeal takes effect taxes on 70.3 percent of the country’s exports to the EUwould be reduced.

With a population of more than 500 million and a combined GDP of over 15trillion USD, accounting for 22 percent of the world's GDP, the EU is anextremely large market and the largest exporter and importer in the world withannual trade of 3.8 trillion USD.

However, Vietnam’s trade with the bloc is focused on certain countries likeGermany, France, the UK, Netherlands and Italy.

Thus, there remain other countries with huge potential and opportunities forVietnamese enterprises to seize when the EVFTA comes into effect since theyhave strength in tropical agricultural products, fisheries, textiles andgarments, footwear, and furniture, experts said.

Tra said the country must adhere to Rules of Origin (RO) when exporting to theEU, especially because traceability regulations in importing countries havebecome increasingly strict.

Bouflet said since the EU is a highly demanding market, so exporters shouldalso meet food safety and hygiene standards and management procedures set by itand incorporate social responsibility and transparency of information relatedto labour and the production environment.

Besides, some kinds of seafood products must comply with IUU (illegal,unreported and unregulated) fishing regulations.

A legal framework for the origins of Vietnamese products and products with“Made in Vietnam” labels should also be created, he said.

Producers’ self-certification of origin must comply with Vietnamese regulationsas well as EVFTA requirements on RO to prevent origin fraud, he warned.

The use of modern methods would ensure strict control over goods’ authenticity,quality and origin, he added. - VNS/VNA