EVFTA gives advantages to Vietnamese agricultural products

Vietnam will become one of the leading exporters of agricultural products to the EU market as soon as the EVFTA is signed.

The seminar on "Trade promotion of agricultural products and foods to EU and Japanese markets". Photo: Ha Phuong

The signing and approval of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) by the end of 2018 will be an advantage for Vietnamese agricultural products when exported to the EU market, said a trade ministry official.

The information was announced by Tran Ngoc Quan, deputy director general of the European Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the sidelines of the seminar themed "Trade promotion of agricultural products and foods to EU and Japanese markets" held by the Trade Promotion Department on August 7.

The seminar regarding "Trade promotion of agricultural products and foods to EU and Japanese markets"

According to the Quan, the European Union (EU) has many trade cooperation agreements with countries in the world, including countries in Asia. However, Vietnam has many advantages over other countries because of the possessing of large agricultural product source.

Thus, after the EVFTA is signed, Vietnam will become one of the leading exporters of agricultural products to the EU market. Besides, Vietnamese agricultural products also have more advantages compared to other countries because the tariff of Vietnamese agricultural products imported to the EU will be 0% within seven years.

Participants at the seminar also discussed the challenges of Vietnamese enterprises may face when exporting agricultural products to the EU market. Among then, agricultural products are often the most protected commodities in developed countries.

Delegates said that there were two barriers to Vietnamese agricultural products to EU countries. Firstly, the EU's protection and subsidy policies for the importof agricultural products are very tight. Secondly, Vietnam also encounters many barriers to food hygiene and safety, as EU countries have strict regulations on residues, antibiotics and pesticides for imported agricultural products.

It can be said that the way to meet the above requirements is considered as one of the challenges for Vietnamese exporters of agricultural products.

In order to deal with these challenges, Quan from the Department of European and American Markets said that Vietnamese enterprises should first focus on quality of the entire supply chain. Moreover, the enterprises also should guide farmers to produce under the product chain to target large markets. In addition, the enterprises should ensure the origin issue for all products exported to the EU market.

In addition, some exporters of agricultural products also hope that in the time to come they will receive support from the government and agencies to export Vietnam-branded finished products to international markets more easily instead of export of raw products as before.

In the first two months of 2018, Vietnam earned more than US$6 billion from the export of agricultural produce. The exports of rice, coffee, tea, cashew nut, vegetables, fruits, and cassava grew both in quantity and quality, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

China, the US, the EU, ASEAN countries, Japan and South Korea continue to be Vietnam’s major agricultural export markets this year.