80,000 tonnes of duty-free rice to penetrate into the EU market

Vietnam will export 80,000 tonnes of rice to the EU each year including 20,000 tonnes of not-yet-de-husked rice, 30,000 tonnes of de-husked rice and 30,000 tonnes of fragrant rice.

According to the European Commission (EC) thanks to the effectiveness of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), Vietnam has a tariff-free quota of 80,000 tonnes of rice to export to the EU per year, reported by Nhan Dan.

The Import and Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the EU will directly allocate the quota of 80,000 tonnes of rice to their importers while Vietnamese enterprises that are eligible to export rice to the EU need to contact EU rice importers to make full use of the quota.

The amount of Vietnamese rice exported to the EU remains low. Vietnamese rice exports to the EU only reached about 20,000 tonnes in 2019 while the average rice consumption of the EU is 2.5 million tonnes per year.

The Import and Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), in terms of enforcing this 80,000 tons of rice export quota. Vietname does not allocate rice quotas that the EU will allocate directly to importers on their side. Domestic enterprises that are eligible to export rice to the EU need to contact EU enterprises that are allowed to import quota rice for trading and offering in order to make full use of the above quota.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade noted that the EC stipulates that fragrant rice shipments when exported to the EU market, in order to enjoy the 0% tax rate according to the quota, must have a certificate of the right type issued by a competent Vietnamese agency. The rice type certification applies only to duty-free quotas, not all Vietnamese rice exported to the EU, reported by VOV.

For rice exporting enterprises to the EU that do not wish to participate in the duty-free quota, this certificate is not required and will be subject to the prescribed tax rate.

The reason is that Vietnam was not granted tariff quotas by the EU before, so it was difficult for Vietnamese rice to compete with rice from other countries allocated with tariff quotas or tax exemption. The EVFTA has helped Vietnam achieve a quota of 80,000 tonnes of rice per year with a 0% tax rate.

To meet the EU's requirements for rice exports, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is rushing to finalize and submit related administrative procedures for the Government in order to issue a decree on administrative procedures for rice exports to the EU and the enjoyment of tariff-free quotas.