European – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and European – Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) have just been approved by the National Assembly.
On the morning of June 8, the National Assembly held the plenary session directly in the hall, approved the Resolution ratifying EVFTA, with 94.62% of deputies voting in approval. About EVIPA, it was approved by the National Assembly with the approval rate of 95.65%.
These decrees will be signed for promulgation on June 30. After the ratifying of Vietnam National Assembly and the completion of the notification procedure of two sides, it is expected that 30 days from the date of notification, this agreement will take effect.
The National Assembly deputies vote to approve the Resolution.
According to EVFTA Resolution, the National Assembly agreed to apply the entire content of the agreement. However, regulations related to intellectual property will apply when the Law on Intellectual Property No.50/2005 is amended and supplemented to take effect.
Particularly for the UK, the agreement will apply from the time it takes effect until the end of 2020 and it can be extended for 24 months according to the agreement between the UK and the European Union (EU) on leaving the EU.
The National Assembly assigned the Prime Minister to organize the implementation of this agreement, prepare resources to promote opportunities and take measures to prevent and handle adverse impacts that may arise in the implementation. Annually, the Government will report to the National Assembly on the implementation of this agreement.
Earlier, on March 30, the European Council (EC) decided to approve a free trade agreement between the European Union and Vietnam (EVFTA).
This afternoon, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh will have a phone call with the EU Trade Commissioner. This is the first phone call between the two sides after EVFTA’s approval.
The National Assembly agreed to directly apply all contents of the European – Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). However, the regulation on recognition and enforcement in Vietnam of the decision of the agency for settlement of investment disputes will be promulgated a separate resolution by the National Assembly.
EVFTA is a comprehensive, high-quality and balanced agreement for both Vietnam and the EU, and it is in line with the provisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
When the agreement comes into effect, the EU will eliminate import duties on about 85.6% of tariff lines (70.3% of Vietnam’s export turnover to the EU). After 7 years, 99.2% of tariff lines (99.7% of export turnover) will be eliminated. With the remaining 0.3% of export turnover, the EU commits to giving Vietnam tariff quotas with import duties of 0%.
The EU is one of Vietnam’s leading trading partners. In 2019, the two-way turnover is nearly 56.4 billion USD, of which 41.5 billion USD is exported into and 15 billion USD is imported from EU.
Regarding attracting foreign investment, about 32,000 projects have entered Vietnam with a total registered capital of over 370 billion USD. In particular, the European region with 2,500 projects and registered capital of 27.5 billion USD. The EVIPA approval is expected to help attract investment, access new and clean technology from the EU.
Duong Nghia
Source: https://vnexpress.net/