Still work to do on Vietnam-EU free trade agreement
14/04/2011
Truong Dinh Tuyen, former trade minister for Vietnam, said at a recent seminar in Hanoi that a free trade agreement would present opportunities and challenges for European businesses operating in Vietnam, as well as for Vietnamese-run companies interested in trading with Europe. He spoke as though it were a question of when, and not if, the free trade agreement would go through. Other reports have urged Vietnamese companies to begin their preparations for free trade with the EU.
This comes only days after the European Union lifted anti-dumping duties of 10% on imports of leather footwear from Vietnam. The measures lapsed on March 31 after four years.
There has been no formal announcement on the subject from Brussels since confirmation on March 3 last year that “EU and Vietnamese officials will now work together to agree the way forward towards the formal start of negotiations, as well as an agreed framework for the talks to reach an FTA”. However things work out, terms from Brussels such as “agree the way forward” and “formal start of negotiations” imply that little is imminent.
By way of a comparison, the European Commission announced “key step towards finalisation of trade deal with Colombia and Peru” on April 13. Brussels made an initial announcement about this deal, originally also involving Ecuador, in January 2009. Nine rounds of negotiations took place between January 2009 and March 2010, when the parties reached a successful conclusion. One year on from there, the champagne corks have still to pop in Brussels, Bogotá and Lima.
The only conclusion it is possible to draw from this is that the wave of excitement spreading across Vietnam about an FTA with the European Union in the immediate term is premature.
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