On 12.2.20 the European Parliament gave the green light to theEU-Vietnam trade agreement. In plenary session, by a large majority (401 votes in favor, 192 against 40 abstentions).
‘The most modern, comprehensive and ambitiousagreement ever concluded between the EU and a developing country,’ the Strasbourg resolution reads. A step toward sharing trade standards withASEAN(Association of South-East Asian Nations) countries.
Vietnam and Europe
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam represents the heart of ASEAN in many ways. 97 million citizens, 70 percent of whom are under 35 years old, and the highest life expectancy in the macro region (76 years). Between 2002 and 2018, more than 45 million people have been emancipated from poverty, whose index (US$ 3.2/day) has decreased dramatically (from >70% to <6%).
GDP per capita increased 2.5 times, exceeding US$ 2,500 in 2018. The middle class, which now accounts for 13 percent of the population, is expected to expand to 26 percent within the next five years. Thanks in part to high levels of education coverage and learning, with scores ‘remarkably high’ and higher than those of many OECD countries, as noted in 2012 and 2015 under theProgram for International Student Assessment(PISA). And to a Human Capital Index that stands out among middle-income countries. (1)
Vietnam is the European Union’s second largest trading partner among ASEAN(Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member countries after thefinancialhub of Singapore. With trade in goods worth € 47.6 billion and services worth € 3.6 billion annually. The main imports to the EU from Vietnam are telecommunications equipment, clothing and food products. The EU in turn exports mainly machinery and transport equipment, chemicals and agricultural products to Vietnam.
Vietnam-EU, the new partnership
The Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement provides for the mutual elimination of almost all customs duties:
– immediate abolition of tariffs on 65 percent of goods imported from Europe, and progressive over the next ten years for the remaining goods (motorcycles and automobiles, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, wines, poultry and poultry meat),
– instant cancellation of import duties on 71 percent of goods entering the EU, to be completed for the remaining goods in the following seven years. Subject to certain limits on duty exemptions on certain foodstuffs (e.g., rice, garlic and eggs).
The agreement is extended to a wide variety of services such as banking, postal and shipping services. EU companies will then be able to participate in public tenders issued by the Vietnamese government and some local authorities (e.g., Hanoi municipality). And it is supplemented by an investment protection agreement that provides, among other things, for the creation of an independent tribunal to resolve disputes between investors and the state.
Sustainable development and protection of geographical indications
Sustainable development finally plays a crucial role in a free trade agreement concluded by the European Union. It thus refers in concrete terms, for the first time, to protecting the environment and supporting social progress. Vietnam is therefore committed to implementing theParis Agreement on climate change, as well as passing two bills on the abolition of forced labor and freedom of association.
It is also guaranteed to safeguard 169 European products with protected designations of origin. And the mutual recognition by the European Union of 39 agri-food products registered as Geographical Indications (GIs).
Entry into force will follow formal approval of the free trade agreement by the Council. Instead, the investment protection agreement will have to be ratified by the parliaments of EU member states.
Dario Dongo and Martina Novelli
Notes
(1)
World Bank, Country Reports, Vietnam
. Update 18.10.19
(2) Instead, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change is being dramatically ignored by the very European Union, whose countries continue to foment deforestation in tropical areas through purchases of GMO soybeans and palm oil that are the primary causes.
Toxic treaties already concluded by the EU with Mercosur countries and Singapore, as well as negotiations with Indonesia, have thus blatantly ignored these serious critical issues. See previous articles:
– about EU defaults to the Paris Agreement,
– on Mercosur Countries and Deforestation https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/amazzonia-i-tweet-non-spengono-i-fuochi-buycott, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/mercati/ue-mercosur-accordo-tossico-sul-commercio,
– On Indonesia, Malaysia and deforestation https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/olio-di-palma-fuori-dall-accordo-ue-indonesia-petizione, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/sicurezza/olio-di-palma-indonesia-e-malesia-nascondono-i-dati-e-minacciano-l-europa-buycott, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/indonesia-incendi-e-olio-di-palma-certificato-rspo-rapporto-greenpeace
– On Made in Europe biodiesel and deforestation https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/olio-di-palma-e-diesel-la-petizione-notinmytank, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/ue-altri-10-anni-di-biodiesel-da-palma
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Graduated in International Relations at the Sapienza University of Rome, she followed the Master in Law & Foody Safety of the University of Bologna.
