Phạm Ngọc Thái

European Parliament may ratify EVFTA in June or July

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European Parliament may ratify EVFTA in June or July
Updated at Thursday, 04 Apr 2019, 16:43
The Hanoitimes – Both the EU and Vietnam are going towards the right direction, while a dialogue mechanism is important for both parties to deal with issues of difference.
The signing and ratification of the EU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) may take place in June or July, after the European Parliament (EP) completes its elections and starts the new tenure, according to Bernd Lange, chairman of the EP’s committee on International Trade (INTA).
Overview of the meeting. Source: quochoi.vn
Overview of the meeting. Source: quochoi.vn

The delay was due to the EU having to focus on some pending issues, including the Brexit, Lange said in a meeting with Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in Brussels on April 3.

Meanwhile, Lange said he fully supports the signing and ratification of the EVFTA.

Overall, both the EU and Vietnam are going towards the right direction, while a dialogue mechanism is important for both parties to deal with issues of disagreement.

At the meeting, Ngan said Vietnam is focusing on realizing its commitments made in the deal, adding that the National Assembly has legalized those commitments.

Ngan expected Lange’s support in making the EVFTA and the Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) between Vietnam and EU at the top of the agenda of the newly elected EP.

According to Ngan, as a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO), Vietnam has been working on revising the Labor Code for better protecting laborers’ interests and rights.

The revised Labor Code is schedule to be submitted to the National Assembly in May for review and admendment.

The National Assembly is willing to work with representatives of the INTA and other EP agencies to narrow the differences and reach a mutual perception, Ngan stated.

Vietnam has conducted a full spectrum lobbying plan to have the EVFTA ratified as soon as possible after the United States withdrew from the landmark Trans-Pacific Partnership deal in January 2017.

The EVFTA, if signed, would become the first trade deal between the EU and a developing country in Asia. In addition to the deal, the EU currently has two FTAs with Singapore – subject to approval, and Japan, which came into force in early February.

Under the Vietnam’s EVFTA commitment, the country would remove 65% of import tariffs for European goods right after the deal becomes effective. The remaining would be gradually removed in the next 10 years.

In return, the EU is committed to removing 71% of import tariffs for Vietnamese items, and the remaining in the next seven years.

Over the past ten years, trade turnover between the EU and Vietnam has increased 10-fold to US$53 billion in 2018. The EU is currently Vietnam’s third largest trading partner, while Vietnam is the bloc’s 19th largest partner in the world, and the second largest in Southeast Asia, behind Singapore, according to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Ngoc Thuy

Vietnam awaits EVFTA and launch of new era

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January 7, 2019

Bruno Angelet, Ambassador and head of the European Union Delegation to ­Vietnam, told VIR that the European Council is now considering the signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), which will then be submitted to the European Parliament for adoption.

In October 2018 the ­European Commission (EC) adopted the EVFTA and the EU-Vietnam Investment ­Protection Agreement (IPA). The two texts were then submitted to the ­European Council the ­following month for official signature.

“Now in Brussels, member states in the council are reviewing the agreement and we hope that by February or March 2019, they can ­endorse the deal. I am sure the deal will be signed,” ­Angelet confirmed. “If everything goes smoothly, EU Trade ­Commissioner Cecilia Malmström will come to Vietnam for the signing.”

But Angelet noted that in May 2019, the European bloc will have an election for a new ­parliament. “The latest time the EVFTA can be ratified is in April. If the existing parliament cannot sign in April, or maybe in May or June, then the next parliament will do so.”

In addition to considering the EVFTA signing, the EU will have to push itself to adopt its bilateral FTA with Singapore signed in October 2018, its first FTA with an ASEAN nation.

Once the European ­Council agrees to sign, the next step will be European Parliament consent.

“In practice this means the parliament will have very little time for deliberations before the end of its current term in April 2019, which means ratification and entry into force of the EVFTA may have to wait until autumn 2019, and the IPA will take longer due to the ­requirement for member state ratification,” the parliament said on its website.

However, according to Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, the Vietnamese ­government will continue working with the European Union to “sign and adopt the EVFTA as soon as is feasibly possible, especially before May 2019 when the EU parliament election take places.”

Great benefits

The EVFTA will eliminate virtually all tariffs on goods traded between the two sides (see below). It also includes a strong, legally-binding commitment to sustainable development, including the respect of human rights, labor rights, environmental protection and the fight against climate change, with an explicit reference to the Paris Agreement.

According to the European Parliament, the EU hopes that the FTA with Vietnam will boost trade and investment.

“The FTA is also an important stepping stone to a wider EU-Southeast Asia trade deal, something which the EU has been striving towards for nearly a decade,” the parliament said. “Vietnam, a fast-growing and competitive economy whose bilateral trade with the EU has quintupled over the past 10 years, is equally keen on the deal, which could potentially boost its GDP by 15 percent.”

“The trade and investment agreements with Vietnam are exemplary of Europe’s trade policy. They bring unprecedented advantages and benefits for European and Vietnamese companies, workers and consumers. They take fully into account the economic differences between the two sides,” said Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the EC.

In particular, according to the EC, the EVFTA will create parity for EU companies and innovative products.

“The EVFTA will level the playing field between state-owned enterprises and private enterprises when state-owned enterprises are engaged in commercial activities,” said an EC document on the EVFTA. “There are also rules on transparency, and consultations on domestic subsidies. These are the most ambitious rules that Vietnam has ever agreed to in an international deal.”

On intellectual property rights, Vietnam has committed to a high level of protection going beyond standards of the World Trade Organization Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement. With this, EU innovations, artworks and brands will be better protected against being unlawfully copied, including through stronger enforcement provisions.

The EU pharmaceutical sector in particular will benefit from improved protection of test data and from the possibility to get an extension of the term of the patent up to two years if there are delays in marketing authorization.

Vietnam has also taken on ambitious commitments concerning the procurement of pharmaceutical products, for instance allowing companies with European capital to import and sell medicines to distributors and wholesalers within the country.

source: vir.com.vn

Six countries ratify CPTPP, triggering 60-day countdown until the first tariff cuts

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The CPTPP trade deal is set to become a reality with a sixth country, Australia, having lodged its ratification documents.

The deal will enter into force on December 30, Trade Minister David Parker announced this morning after receiving Australia’s paperwork triggering a 60-day countdown.

“This is a momentous day, not just for New Zealand…but for world trade,” Parker said.

The World Trade Organisation was in a parlous state at present and the alternatives were plurilateral agreements.

“The most important one on offer at the moment is the CPTPP…It has benefits that will spread throughout the economy to every person in New Zealand from the factory floor to the farm owner, to all of the other service industries that rely upon our export industries.”

The paperwork was handed over at the Beehive by Australian High Commissioner Ewen McDonald.

New Zealand is the depositary of the deal, which was launched in 2008.

McDonald said he acknowledged the leadership of New Zealand in the CPTPP together with Japan and Australia.

Now officially called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans Pacific Partnership, the other countries that have ratified are Japan, Canada, Mexico, and New Zealand.

The countries yet to ratify are Chile, Malaysia, Peru, Vietnam and Brunei.

The deal will mark the first free trade deal for New Zealand with Japan, the third largest economy in the world, and Mexico and Canada.

The first round of tariff cuts for New Zealand exporters will take effect on December 30 and because of the timing, a second round will take place on January 1, 2019, Parker said.

“New Zealand’s ratification means that from day one our businesses will be able to take advantage of improved trading conditions and lower tariffs,” Parker said.

Following years of protest and debate, six countries have ratified the CPTPP and it will come into effect from December 30 this year. Photo / Lavinia Bishop
Following years of protest and debate, six countries have ratified the CPTPP and it will come into effect from December 30 this year. Photo / Lavinia Bishop

“Economic modelling shows exports, the New Zealand standard of living, and wages, will increase as a consequence,” Parker said.

The CPTPP markets are collectively home to 480 million consumers and comprise 13.5 per cent of world GDP.

The United States led the TPP negotiations under President Barack Obama but withdrew from the deal after Donald Trump was sworn in as President in January 2017.

Negotiations among the remaining 11 countries were held throughout 2017 and a decision was made to continue without the US.

Labour opposed the TPP in Opposition but made enough changes after taking power to announce its support about a year ago.

It was renamed the CPTPP at the instigation of Canada.

Parker said the CPTPP was a “fantastic protection and advancement of New Zealand’s trading interests.”

“The protective benefits of this agreement and the signal it send to the rest of the world that there is a new rules-based order out there can buy into if they want is an incredibly signal at this particular time.”

Parker said it was a high quality agreement and he upgraded his previous estimate of the pact from a seven out of 10.

“I reckon I’m up to an eight or nine now because the relative degradation of other things means it is just so much more important than it was.

“It is a high quality agreement and if we were offered other agreement that were this high quality we would be in them with a flash.”

Citing some specific benefits, Parker said fish exports to Mexico currently face 20 per cent tariffs.

Buttercup squash growers, mainly is Gisborne, would be saving $1.5 million a year in tariff reductions.

Tariffs on beef into Japan will reduce from 38 per cent to 9 per cent over a longer period of time.

Tariffs on wine into Canada will go immediately.

Horticultural exports, including carrot and radish seed, would have much lower tariffs.

Other countries that have expressed an interest in joining the CPTPP include Colombia, Britain, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and China.

TPP-CPTPP TIMELINE
1999
National trade minister Lockwood Smith clinches NZ-Singapore Closer Economic Partnership (CEP). But Clinton’s US rejects invitation by NZ to expand to five-party trade talks including Australia and Chile.

2001
New Zealand – Singapore Closer Economic Partnership (CEP) begins after new Labour passes related laws.

2005
Chile and Brunei join CEP making it the P4, also known as Trans Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership – but it is minus an investment and financial services chapter.

2007
July: Trade minister Phil Goff talks to US Trade Representative Susan Schwab in Cairns about the US joining P4, which it scheduled to start investment and financial services talks.

2008
September: US Trade Rep Schwab announces from New York US will enter negotiations to become a full partner in the TPP (P4), under outgoing President, George W Bush.
November: New Trade Minister Tim Groser announces at Apec in Peru that Australia, Vietnam and Peru will join negotiations, yet to be started.

2009
February: New US President Barack Obama delays joining until his Administration assesses it.
November: United States Administration confirms it will join TPP talks.

2010
March: First round of TPP talks among eight countries begins in Melbourne
October: Malaysia joins TPP talks.
November: Japan announces it will consider joining TPP talks.

2011
March: Tsunami catastrophe delays Japan’s consideration.
November: Obama hosting Apec Hawaii holds TPP meeting and Honolulu Declaration agrees to comprehensive TPP.
2012
June: Mexico and Canada announce they will join TPP talks, making 11. Japan still considering.

2013
March: Japan under PM Shinzo Abe announces it will join TPP talks.

2015
October: TPP talks conclude in Atlanta, US.

2016
Countries begin domestic processes to ratify TPP but in the US, presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton promise to withdraw from the deal. Labour in NZ decides to oppose TPP.

2017
January: President Donald Trump withdraws from TPP.
November: TPP becomes CPTPP ahead of Apec summit in Vietnam and Labour agrees to support it with modifications. Planned CPTPP signing by leaders at Apec cancelled after no-show at meeting by Canada.

2018
March: CPTPP signed by ministers in Chile. Domestic ratification processes begin.
October: Sixth signatory, Australia, triggers entry into force of CPTPP on December 30.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12151868