EFTA And Vietnam Continue Free Trade Talks

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

05 October 2017

Delegations from the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) and Vietnam have held a 15th round of negotiations towards a bilateral free trade agreement.

According to EFTA, expert working groups convened in late September in Hanoi to continue discussions in the areas of trade in goods, rules of origin, trade in services, investment/establishment, intellectual property rights, trade remedies, and legal and institutional issues.

Sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, and government procurement were discussed by the leaders of both delegations, EFTA said.

Detailed follow-ups were agreed to be undertaken by both sides in view of the next round, scheduled to take place in spring 2018.

Merchandise trade between the EFTA states and Vietnam reached USD2.8bn in 2016. The EFTA states exported goods valued at USD882m and imported goods worth USD1.9bn.

EFTA's leading exports to Vietnam included fish, pharmaceutical products, and machinery and mechanical appliances, while electrical machinery, footwear and precious stones and metals were leading imports.

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