Trade in goods between Vietnam and the European Union (EU) has seen positive growth since the beginning of 2021, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effect, Vietnam's leather and footwear exports to the EU market have grown. It is notable this is one of the industries that makes the best use of tariff preferences in the EVFTA by meeting the provisions of the respective rules of origin of goods in the agreement.

The rate of using Certificate of Origin (C/O) form EUR.1 of Vietnamese textile and garment exporters to the EU to take advantage of preferential tariffs from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has not met the expected level.

Despite COVID-19 cutting into demand for textiles and garments, enterprises have poured investment into materials to improve production capacity, completing the supply chain and taking advantage of new generation free trade agreements (FTAs) that have come into effect.

Thanks to the preferential tariffs under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, footwear exports to the bloc’s 27 member countries increased by 19.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021.

The first batch of Hai Duong province’s Thanh Ha “thieu” lychees left Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on June 7 for the European Union (EU).

Alongside India, Vietnam continues to be considered as the most interesting potential market in the Asia-Pacific region by German businesses.

With consumption trends in the EU market changing due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic businesses have been advised to follow new trends and meet stringent requirements in an effort to boost exports to the demanding market.

Key recent IP developments and trends in Vietnam

Since the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement (EVFTA) took effect in August 2020, Belgium has played a significant role in promoting trade and foreign investments into Vietnam.