• Solutions to leverage opportunities from specific commitments of RCEP

The commitments on market openness in RCEP has created many opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to export to the Japanese market. Therefore, businesses need to understand the relevant commitments of RCEP in order to take full advantage of benefits from this agreement:

- Learning about Japan's tariff commitments to RCEP countries, including Vietnam, in Japan's Tariff Commitments Schedule in Appendix I of the RCEP Agreement.

However, it should be noted that Japan's preferential tariff commitment level in the RCEP Commitments Schedule is the minimum opening level. In fact, Japan can open (reduce or eliminate tariffs) earlier than the committed roadmap. Therefore, to know exactly the preferential tariff level that Japan applies to each Vietnamese product, businesses need to check the preferential tariffs according to RCEP that Japan applies to Vietnam every year.

In addition, it should be noted that Japan has different tax commitments (not applying a common preferential tariff level to all RCEP countries but committing to a separate preferential tariff level depending on the specific RCEP partner) for a number of goods based on the specific origin characteristics of the goods (in addition to the general rules of origin of goods). Therefore, depending on the level of compliance with the additional rules of origin of the shipment, the preferential tariff rates under RCEP that enterprises exporting goods to Japan can enjoy are different.

Businesses can look up tariffs at the following sources:

+ Japan Customs website: https://www.customs.go.jp/english/index.htm

+ International Trade Center (ITC) Market Access Map (Macmap): https://www.macmap.org/

+ WTO Direct Tariff Analysis Tool (TAO): https://tao.wto.org/

- Learning about rules of origin and procedures for certification of origin to enjoy RCEP tariff preferences in Chapter 3 - Rules of Origin of the Agreement. Vietnam has also internalized the provisions on RCEP Rules of Origin in Circular No. 05/2022/TT-BCT dated February 18, 2022 regulating the Rules of Origin of goods in RCEP. Enterprises need to carefully study this Information and related guidance documents to fully comply with the rules of origin and origin certification procedures to enjoy RCEP tariff preferences when exporting to Japan.

In addition, businesses may need to pay attention to additional rules of origin to determine the country of origin in case the goods are subject to Japan's different tariff commitments.

- Learning about other related issues such as Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation (Chapter 4), Food Safety and Animal and Plant Quarantine Measures (Chapter 5), Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures (Chapter 6), Trade Remedies (Chapter 7) ... to ensure compliance with RCEP regulations while taking advantage of the rights and protecting the legitimate interests of enterprises.

• Technical and market solutions

To export to the Japanese market, Vietnamese products face many other issues that RCEP hardly intervenes or changes, especially:

- Japanese import requirements and regulations such as food hygiene and safety standards, regulations on labeling and labeling of goods, etc.;

- Japanese consumers' needs and tastes;

- Consumption trends and import and distribution channels of Japanese goods.

Therefore, to be able to access the Japanese market, Vietnamese enterprises need to pay attention to:

- Get detailed information, update regularly and ensure full compliance with Japanese import regulations and procedures;

- Thoroughly research the Japanese market (especially niche markets), learn in detail about the tastes and needs of consumers in this country, thereby researching to improve product designs and quality to suit market needs.

- Research on how to build and promote brands for Vietnamese products in the Japanese market;

- Learn about mechanisms and ways to approach channels/distributors of goods in Japan, especially e-commerce channels which are increasingly popular and becoming the main shopping trend of Japanese consumers.

• Solutions to enhance competitiveness

Improving competitiveness is a sustainable solution for Vietnamese products to develop in both domestic and export markets. To do this, businesses need to pay special attention to the following solutions:

- Investing in technical innovation, increasing technology content, and "green" features in product production and processing (through joint ventures and partnerships with domestic and foreign researchers and businesses; upgrading and acquiring modern production processes and technologies, etc.);

- Investing in human resources: having a systematic labor training plan, capacity building for key staff, technology engineers and market research specialists;

- Researching to improve product quality, design, etc. to suit the needs and tastes of Japanese consumers;

- Focusing on building brands, promoting products to importers and Japanese consumers through various forms (through fairs, exhibitions, advertising on social networks, etc.), while focusing more on warranty and after-sales policies, etc. to attract Japanese consumers.

Source: Center for WTO and International Trade

• Japan’s tariff commitments on imported goods under the RCEP
• Japan’s additional rules of origin under the RCEP
• Japan’s origin certification mechanism under the RCEP
• Japan’s commitment on opening service market under the RCEP
• Opportunities from RCEP for exporting Vietnamese goods to the Japanese market