Vietnam's National Assembly ratified the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) on Monday, 8 June, during its first session since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Signed on 30 June 2019, the agreement was ratified by the European Parliament on 12 February. The Chair of the Parliamentary Trade Committee (INTA), Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany), welcomed the adoption of the agreements, but also that of the ILO's fundamental Convention 105, which was ratified by the Assembly in its wake. "Implementation is essential now", he said, referring to the sustainable development provisions contained in the agreement (see EUROPE 12424/3).
According to a principle of asymmetry, the FTA will abolish on implementation 65% of the duties on EU exports to its developing partner, with the remainder being phased out over a 10 year period. These are mainly high-tech products (machinery and electrical equipment), aircraft and vehicles, and pharmaceuticals.
The EU will abolish its duties on Vietnamese products over 7 years, mainly telephones and electronics, footwear, textiles and clothing, coffee, rice, seafood and furniture.
The Investment Protection Agreement between the two partners still needs to be ratified by 26 of the 27 Member States, with only Hungary having validated it to date. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)