• TIN TỨC
• VIDEO

Vietnam has to deal with almost 100 anti-dumping lawsuits and trade disputes each year, in which domestic businesses often come off worst.

At the recent G20 Summit in Toronto, as ASEAN Chair, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung called for G20 nations to ensure a sustainable economic recovery and fight against trade protectionism in all forms. He emphasised that Vietnam has to face many disguised protection measures in some developed countries, saying that G20 nations should continue to introduce specific measures to remove barriers to trade and foreign direct investment. These barriers have become obstacles for Vietnamese investors and exporters.

To some extent, these barriers, with stricter regulations on food hygiene and safety and anti-dumping, have had a positive impact on Vietnamese businesses who have to increase the quality of their products to compete against foreign rivals.

Tran Manh Canh, Deputy General Director of the Hanoi Trade Corporation (Hapro), says that his company exports many products to the Republic of Korea, which requires a high standard of food hygiene and safety. However, Hapro leaders consider these a good opportunity for local businesses to sharpen their competitive edge to penetrate the global market, adds Mr Canh.

In addition to this, trade barriers have also posed numerous difficulties and challenges for Vietnamese businesses who do not have a proper understanding of this issue. Many local businesses find it hard to access information about the trade laws of countries that have commitments with Vietnam. Therefore, clarifying trade barriers and technical standards provided by partners and ensuring transparency in the origin of products are still big challenges for Vietnamese businesses when they export their products to foreign markets.

For instance, the European Union (EU) has an anti-dumping tax of 10 percent on Vietnamese leather shoes. The European Bicycle Manufacturers Association (EBMA) has requested a review and extension of the anti-dumping duty on imported Vietnamese bicycles. This affects the Vietnamese bike industry and puts the sector at risk of facing the anti-dumping duty after July 15, 2010.

Hans Farnhammer, First Secretary of the EU Delegation to Vietnam, says that the nations’ businesses need to meet all the trade requirements if they want to maintain their export growth rate to the market.

According to Mr Farnhammer, businesses exporting products to the EU should be aware that the importing countries will gradually raise their criteria and create higher standards. They should establish an EU early warning system for non-agricultural products to provide businesses with knowledge of trade barriers or face a reduction in Vietnamese products’ competitiveness in export markets and hinder their chance to enter new markets.

The EU and the US are the two major export markets. While there are still anti-dumping lawsuits against shrimp, fish, plastics bags, footwear, bicycles and other products, there have been some warnings about seafood and wooden products imported from Vietnam.

Nguyen Ton Quyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Timber and Forestry Products Association (Vifores), says that Vietnam’s wooden products have continuously had to cope with anti-dumping lawsuits. Since 2005, there has been a rumour that the US plans to lodge anti-dumping lawsuits against Vietnamese products, making Vietnamese businesses insecure about their export activities. Besides, Vietnamese businesses have to deal with the US’s Lacey Act under which importers must declare the country of origin and the names of all the woods used in their products.

Therefore, it is very complicated for Vietnamese businesses to seek a legal outlet for their exported products. Currently, Vietnam buys timber from 26 countries in four continents. It is often very difficult for the country to find out the source of the timber, says Mr Quyen.

In the American market, since December 2009, a new US law now means Vietnamese tra fish has to be examined by the Inspection and Food Safety Board. So far, a huge number of workers in the leather footwear sector have lost their jobs due to EU’s anti-dumping duty of 10 percent being imposed on Vietnamese products.

Nguyen Thi Tong, the General Secretary of the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association, says that Vietnam’s footwear exports to the EU make up roughly 20-25 percent of its total. If businesses do not care about overcoming these barriers, this will affect development as well as workers. In general, big businesses can meet the strict requirements imposed by the EU but small ones have to make a lot of effort to overcome them.

Currently, there are many barriers that Vietnam’s export businesses have to overcome such as standards on food and hygiene, packaging, product quality, the REACH directive, and regulations on chemicals which are prohibited in food products and garments and textiles. Garments, textiles and footwear products should meet health standards and do not cause environmental pollution. Such barriers have made exporting countries in Asia including Vietnam encounter a lot of difficulties.

In the economic downturn, many countries considered trade barriers as a tool to stop Vietnam’s exports. On average, Vietnamese businesses have to cope with nearly 100 anti-dumping lawsuits and trade disputes each year. This is an alarming, as Vietnam’s economy depends heavily on its exports.

(VOVNEWS)