EU-Vietnam free trade deal gets green light in trade committee

Vietnam is the EU's second largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after Singapore, with trade in goods worth €47.6 billion a year. EU exports to the country grow by 5-7 percent annually, yet the EU’s trade deficit with Vietnam was €27 billion in 2018.

The committee gave its consent to the free trade agreement and recommends that EP Plenary should do the same. The agreement will remove virtually all tariffs between the two parties in ten years.

65% of EU exports to Vietnam will be immediately duty free, with pork gradually liberalised over ten years.

Parliament is set to vote on the trade deal and the investment protection agreement at its February session. Once Council concludes the trade agreement, it can enter into force. For the investment protection agreement to enter into force, the member states first need to ratify it.

January 21, 2020/ European Parliament.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/