EU removes garment export quotas for Vietnam
HANOI - The European Union (EU) and Vietnam have just signed an agreement, under which the latter will be allowed to freely export its garments and textiles to the former from January 2005, local media reported Saturday. Vietnamese Deputy Trade Minister Luong Van Tu and Head of the European Commission Delegation to Vietnam, Ambassador Markus Cornaro, initialed the agreement on Friday.
The deal is the second most important bilateral trade agreementbetween Vietnam and the EU since the bloc agreed to Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Hanoi on Oct. 9. For Vietnam, the quota deal is of great importance, because theEU is now the country's second biggest garment market after the United States, and WTO members will no longer be subject to quota restrictions on garment and textile exports from Jan. 1, 2005.
Vietnam has so far this year shipped over 633 million US dollars worth of garments and textiles to the EU, which annually spends 70 billion dollars on importing the products from many countries and regions, said the reports. Vietnam will hold an industry conference in the next few weeks to seek ways of boosting garment and textile exports to the EU. Itwill also conduct negotiations with the United States on a similardeal, wanting its biggest garment importer to eliminate quota restrictions on its garment and exports.
This year, Vietnam is estimated to export over 4 billion dollars worth of garments and textiles to the world market, of which roughly one-fourth is expected to go to the EU. The country made garment export turnovers of nearly 3.97 billion dollars in the first 11 months of this year, a year-on-year rise of 18.6 percent. Its garment turnovers stood at 3.6 billion dollars in 2003, up 30.9 percent against 2002.
Xinhuanet - December 4, 2004
EU to Lift quotas on vietnamese textiles
The European Union has agreed to lift quotas on Vietnamese textile and garment exports, a move that will help the communist country stay competitive as it works to join the World Trade Organization, state-controlled media reported Saturday. Vice Trade Minister Luong Van Tu and Markus Cornaro, head of the EU mission to Vietnam, signed the agreement in Hanoi on Friday, but it still must receive final approval from both sides before taking effect Jan. 1, the Youth newspaper said.
The EU is Vietnam's second largest textile and garment market behind the United States, with exports this year totaling US$633 million (euro475.94 million). Quotas were imposed on Vietnam when it first signed a textile and garment agreement with the EU in 1992. The agreement is vital to Vietnam's competitiveness since textile quotas will be phased out by 2005 for WTO members. Vietnam has not yet joined the world trade body but is striving for admission by the end of next year to keep from being muscled out of lucrative markets by members like China.
Textiles and garments are Vietnam's second largest export behind crude oil. The agreement comes after the EU and Vietnam reached a bilateral agreement in October bolstering Vietnam's bid to join the WTO. Vietnam must get all 147 members of the world trading body to sign off before it can join.
The newspaper quoted Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen as saying that Vietnam should not expect its exports to the EU to increase sharply and warned that the volume depends on the competitiveness of the country's textile and garment businesses. Tuyen said lifting the quotas would help to ease corruption, which has plagued the ministry following allegations that officials accepted bribes from businesses in return for quotas allocations on shipments to the United States.
So far, more than a dozen people, including Vice Trade Minister Mai Van Dau, have been arrested in the scandal.
Local media have reported that textile and garment companies were forced to bribe officials up to US$1 million (euro 0.75 million) to secure exports to the United States.
The Associated Press - December 3, 2004
|