Vietnamese exporters face technical barriers in EU

The potential to export to the EU market is huge but Vietnamese enterprises face obstacles in accessing it, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh said Tuesday at a seminar to review implementation of the 2020 EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

But he said his ministry would provide them with timely and accurate information and help them overcome the barriers.

Nguyen Van Hieu, export director of Loc Troi Group, said it is hard for agricultural product exporters like his company to meet all the strict requirements set by the EU, pointing out that among other things “if a single batch of goods is found to fail to satisfy them, the exporter will be places in the EU’s black list.”

Since the EVFTA took effect in August 2020, Loc Troi has shipped some 24,000 tons of rice to the EU.

Phu Gia Food, which can export 100-150 tons of chicken a year to the EU, finds it difficult to meet the block’s stringent requirements for fresh and frozen foodstuff, including meat, the company’s director, Pham Tuan Khai, said.

Ngo Chung Khanh, deputy head of the ministry’s multilateral trade policy department, said exports to the EU rose in 2019-21 but fell as a proportion of Vietnam’s total exports.

Vietnam had shipped goods like seafood, fruits, rice, garment, and footwear worth over $46 billion to the EU in 2019, accounting for 17.5% of its total exports. The proportion dropped to 12.4% in 2020 and 12% in 2021.