Vietnam & EU to cut tariff lines
Vietnam & EU to cut tariff lines
Once the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) takes effect Vietnam has committed to eliminating about 48.5 per cent of tariff lines, equal to 64.5 per cent of imports from the EU, and after ten years about 99 per cent of tariff lines will be eliminated, equal to 99.8 per cent of EU imports.
The information was announced by the Head of International Cooperation Department at the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Vu Nhu Thang, at a press conference on import and export tariff commitments and financial services in Vietnam and the EU after the two sides finished basic negotiations over the EVFTA.
In exports, the EU will abolish import duties on approximately 85.6 per cent of tariff lines, equal to 70.3 per cent of exports by Vietnam to the EU. After seven years it will abolish import duties on 99.2 per cent of all tariff lines, or 99.7 per cent of exports from Vietnam.
Many important export items of Vietnam are to see tariffs eliminated. For example, the EU will completely eliminate import duties on textiles, footwear and seafood, except for canned tuna and fish balls, within seven years. The EU has agreed to provide Vietnam with a suitable quota on canned tuna.
It also allows a significant quota on milled rice, unmilled rice, and fragrant unmilled rice. Tax duties on rice under the quota will be eliminated when the agreement takes effect while with for broken rice it will be eliminated completely according to a schedule. For products made from rice, the EU has committed to reduce import taxes to 0 per cent within seven years.
In addition to the abovementioned tariff lines, Vietnam has also committed to eliminating tariffs within seven to 15 years on other items such as cigarettes, cigars, machinery, wood products, and paper.
