Hanoi (VNA) –The Department of Trade Defence under the Ministry of Industry and Trade will beginreleasing Vietnam’s export data to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) on a monthlybasis to help local businesses avoid Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariffs.

Vietnam and the EAEU signeda free trade agreement on May 29, 2015, which came into force on October 5,2016.

Under the deal, the EAEU – consistingof Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan – committed to eliminatingtariff for up to 9,774 tax lines (90 percent) for products imported fromVietnam.

Accordingly, Vietnam’s footwear,textiles and garments, and interior design products are eligible for a zeroimport duty. However, if the volume of these products exceeds the trigger levelestablished in the agreement, the EAEU will adjust the zero import duty to MFNtariffs for six to nine months, depending on the volume.

As of June 2018, the MFN tariffs had been imposed on Vietnameseunderwear and children’s wear products.

Accordingto the department, there have been no products at risk of tax in 2019. However,domestic businesses should act accordingly to avoid the imposition.

Vietnam’s customsstatistics show trade between the two sides hit 3.9 billion USD in 2017, up 31percent year-on-year. Last year, Vietnam also recorded a trade surplus ofnearly 1 billion USD with the bloc. 

In the first four months of 2018, bilateral tradewas at 1.53 billion USD, an annual increase of 35 percent.

Key Vietnamese exports to the EAEU were phones andcomponents, computers and electronic devices, apparel, footwear, fruit andvegetables, coffee, cashew nuts, and seafood. Vietnam mainly imported petrol,oil, steel, fertilisers, and machinery from the EAEU. Commodities from eachside supplement each other, thus limiting the disadvantages usually seen withother FTAs. –VNA