Viet Nam removed from list of beneficiaries of EAEU tariff preferences under GSP
Viet Nam removed from list of beneficiaries of EAEU tariff preferences under GSP
Viet Nam will be removed from the list of countries entitled to tariff preferences offered by the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) under the Generalised Scheme Preferences (GSP) from October 12, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade). 
This change is expected to have a strong impact on enterprises whose export activities are enjoying GSP incentives from the EAEU markets, especially the Russian market.
On March 15, the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission approved Decision 17 on adjusting the list of developing and least developed countries enjoying tariff preferences from the EAEU GSP.
For Viet Nam, the EAEU GSP mechanism should have ended as soon as the free trade agreement between Viet Nam and the EAEU came into effect in 2016. However, the EAEU approved a five-year extension for Viet Nam to continue enjoying GSP after the entry into force of this agreement.
Enterprises exporting goods to the EAEU markets, especially Russia, Viet Nam's largest trading partner in the EAEU, need to pay attention to this deadline and adjust their export activities. They are recommended to learn about tariff preferences and corresponding rules of origin to take advantage of tariff preferences from the Viet Nam - EAEU FTA as an alternative to the GSP mechanism.
Vietrade recommended exporters come up with plans to adapt to the change and to explore tariff preferences and corresponding preferential rules of origin under the EAEU – Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement in place of the GSP.
Viet Nam is among 75 developing countries to be removed from the list, alongside the two least-developed nations.
Despite the impacts of COVID-19, two-way trade between Viet Nam and the EAEU expanded 6.5 per cent to US$5.2 billion last year, of which Viet Nam’s exports to the EAEU totalled $3.1 billion and imports $2.1 billion, up 7.2 per cent and 5.5 per cent, respectively, from the previous year.
Of the figure, trade with Russia accounted for 93.7 per cent.
