ITA Helps Alleviate Against Import Restrictions on Consumer Goods in Vietnam
August 8, 2013
(ITA)
The Department of Commerce’s International
Trade Administration (ITA) helped members of
the U.S. food and beverage industry overcome a
trade-restrictive import licensing policy
imposed by the Government of Vietnam’s (GoV)
Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT). This
market access barrier had the potential to
notably decrease U.S. exports to Vietnam.
Why it Matters
Had the ITA not acted to ensure that Vietnam
did not expand its trade-restrictive import
licensing requirements, U.S. food and beverage
product companies would have continued to face
non-transparent and overly-restrictive import
regulations that delayed and reduced their
exports. This, in turn, could have led to a
permanent reduction of U.S. companies’ market
share in Vietnam.
The Problem
In 2010, Vietnam’s Prime Minister issued a
resolution that directed its Ministries to
“reduce the trade deficit, and improve the
balance of payments,” and specifically called
on MOIT to “strictly control the import of
items that are not really necessary…[and]
promulgate a list of dispensable import goods
and non-encouraged imports of consumer goods.”
MOIT then issued new requirements to reduce the
import of specific goods, including a broad
range of food, beverage and agricultural
products. The new measures were not
transparent and resulted in decreased U.S.
exports, raising questions about Vietnam’s
commitment to the World Trade Organization
Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures.
The Solution
In response to Vietnam expanding its import
licensing requirements, ITA coordinated with
U.S. government agencies and U.S. companies to
fully engage the GoV by raising USG concerns in
the WTO Import Licensing Committee.
Subsequently, MOIT issued a September 2012
circular which suspended the implementation of
these new import licensing requirements. This
suspension has provided relief from the import
licensing policy that limited U.S. exports to
Vietnam. MOIT officials later confirmed that
consistent communications from U.S. government
and industry representatives played a
significant role in the decision to suspend the
import licensing policy.
Working closely with U.S. companies, ITA
creates, expands, and defends market access for
U.S. goods and services overseas through the
Trade Agreements Compliance Program. We
promote policy that develops a more favorable
business climate for U.S. companies in global
markets, employ commercial diplomacy to resolve
trade barriers, and leverage our bilateral and
multilateral trade agreements to ensure our
trading partners live up to their commitments
so that American businesses can compete on a
level playing-field.
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