Aquatic products are subject to a lot of incentives in the European Union – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).(Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Aquatic products aresubject to a lot of incentives in the European Union – Vietnam Free TradeAgreement (EVFTA), according to experts.
Up to 90 percent of the tariff lines levied onthis product type will be cut down to zero percent once the EVFTA is signed,excluding canned tuna and fish ball, with the longest roadmap of seven years.
Experts said this is an excellent chance for theseafood sector to reach out to more markets.
Secretary General of the Vietnam Association ofSeafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) Truong Dinh Hoe said the average importtariff on aquatic products exported to the EU is 14 percent, many of which areimposed with higher tariffs, up to 26 percent.
When the EVFTA takes effect, nearly 840 basictariff lines, making up about 50 percent of the tariff lines for aquaticproducts, will be reduced to zero percent; the remaining are subject to3-to-7-year reduction roadmap.
The EU will provide tariff quota for someVietnamese special products such as canned tuna, 11,500 tonnes, and surimi, 500tonnes.
The enforcement of the EVFTA will push Vietnam’saquatic product exports to the EU market, Hoe said.
He added that shrimp exports will be moreoptimistic because the tariff lines for this product will reduce sharply fromthe first year of the deal’s enforcement, then gradually go down to zeropercent in the next following years.
Vietnam is now the second biggest shrimpexporter, accounting for 14 percent of the global market share after India.
When the EVFTA and the Comprehensive andProgressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) come into effect,the import duties on raw shrimp material from Vietnam and the export duties onprocessed shrimp in the EU and CPTPP countries will be cut down.
Meanwhile, India is not a member of the CPTPPand the negotiation of a FTA between India and the EU is temporarily delayed.
This is considered a good opportunity for theVietnamese shrimp industry to compete with India.
According to the VASEP, with the aim ofexporting 4.2 billion USD worth of shrimp in 2019, the US is defined as the keygrowth market of Vietnam with the export turnover projected at 750 million USD,up 17.6 percent against 2018.
The European demand for shrimp is forecast tocontinuously grow, especially in the UK and the Netherlands.
This is the foundation for the shrimp sector torealise its goal of increasing its export value to the EU to 1.5 billion USD in2019.
Experts said the signing of the EVFTA is a goodchance for aquatic firms to expand export markets and increase theircompetitiveness.-VNA
VNA
