What International Laws in International Trade Vietnam is a Signing Party to?

International trade is important for each country to grow economically and influence through exchanging products and services, utilizing resources that create competitive advantage over others.  In order to enable international trade, Vietnam has been a signing party to a number of international laws, international conventions, free trade agreements.

International Trade Lawyers in Vietnam

Up to present, Vietnam is a signing party to the:

·         UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods 1980 (CISG);

·         The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP);

·         The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 1967;

Vietnam is also the signing party to a number of the Free Trade Agreements:

·         ASEAN Free Trade Area 1992;

·         ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA);

·         ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS);

·         ASEAN Protocol on Enhanced Dispute Settlement Mechanism;

·         ASEAN-China Free Trade Area 2002;

·         ASEAN-India Free Trade Area 2003;

·         ASEAN-Japan Free Trade Area 2003;

·         ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Area 2005;

·         Vietnam – Japan economic Partnership Agreement 2008;

·         ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement 2009;

·         Vietnam – Chile Free Trade Area 2011;

·         Vietnam – Korea Free Trade Area 2015;

·         Eurasian Economic Union 2015

·         ASEAN – Hong Kong free Trade Area 2017 (signed on 12/11/2017, Scheduled to be effective from 1 January 2019)

·         Agreements in WTO accession:

Annex 1A    Multilateral agreements on trade in goods

·         General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994

·         Agreement on agriculture

·         Agreement on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures

·         Agreement on textiles and clothing

·         Agreement on technical barriers to trade

·         Agreement on trade-related investment measures

·         Agreement on implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994

·         Agreement on implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994

·         Agreement on pre-shipment inspection

·         Agreement on rules of origin

·         Agreement on import licensing procedures

·         Agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures

·         Agreement on safeguards

·         Trade Facilitation Agreement

Annex 1B   General Agreement on Trade in Services

Annex 1C   Agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights

Until Sep 2018, Vietnam has been accelerating preparations for meeting commitments in EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).  It has been expected the EVFTA to be passed in the year of 2019, promoting Vietnam’s sustainable development through removing 99% of tariffs on goods traded between the two economies, expanding Vietnam’s textile, apparel export to the EU market.  In return, the EVFTA will open Vietnamese market for EU companies and strengthen the protection of its investment into Vietnam.

ANT Lawyers law firm is a member of legal secretary of EuroCham in Hanoi, Vietnam, and has been a contribution to the legal review that support the investment into Vietnam.  ANT Lawyers will be sending Mr Tuan Nguyen, the Managing Partner to take part in the EuroCham delegation visit in Brussels Mission in October 2018, with the main goal is to promote the fast conclusion of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement process, raise awareness as to the potential of Vietnam as a strategic partner for Europe, and deliver the views of the European business community in the country.

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Anti-dumping measures under Vietnam laws

Vietnam joined the WTO, signed various types of trade agreements, and step by step eliminated tariff and non-tariff barriers, and accelerated the process of integration and development of Vietnam. The Foreign Trade Administration Act of 2017, which regulates trade remedies, has also terminated the effect of the Ordinance on Anti-dumping of Imported Goods in 2004.

WTO law firm in Vietnam

According to the Law on Foreign Trade Management, Decree 10/2018 / ND-CP, anti-dumping measures against goods imported into Vietnam is a measure applied in cases where the goods are identified dumping when imported into Vietnam causes substantial injury or threatens to cause material injury to a domestic industry or prevents the formation of a domestic manufacturing industry. A commodity is determined to be dumping when it is compared to the following conditions: the selling price in Vietnam is lower than the normal price. The usual price determination is regulated by the Law on Foreign Trade Management in three ways: the price of the like goods at exporter, the price of the like goods in the third country under normal commercial conditions or the price determined by the investigating agency by the method of self-calculation.

For the application of anti-dumping measures, the “sale price” factor is not sufficient, but must fully satisfy the conditions prescribed by law. Accordingly, the dumping measure is applied when the dumping margin is over 2%; the domestic industry suffered material injury or threatened to cause material injury; there is a fruitful relationship between the importation of goods selling prices and the domestic production. With the margin of dumping below 2%, anti-dumping measures are not applicable.

The application of anti-dumping measures is considered as a way of healthy competition of enterprises. Domestic enterprises may request the competent agencies to apply this measure when they find that they fully satisfy the conditions on quantity and volume of goods related to their selling prices and the proportion of goods that they sell on the market devaluation (at least 25%). On the basis of the conclusions of the investigation, the anti-dumping tax shall be applied for not more than 5 years or the measures for elimination of dumping at the request of the domestic enterprises if they are approved by Vietnam Competition Authority, the investigation bodies.

An anti-dumping duty shall apply retroactively prior to the decision of the Minister of Industry and Trade. Anti-dumping duty shall be retroactively applied to imported goods for a period of 90 days before the imposition of provisional anti-dumping duty if the imported goods are found to be dumped.

Therefore, anti-dumping measures are a way to protect the domestic industry and at the same time create a healthy competition between foreign enterprises and Vietnamese enterprises. At the same time, respect for international commitments, trade agreements that Vietnam signed when joining the WTO.

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