Vietnam’s export turnover of plastic products reached 4.2 billion USD in the first half of 2015. (Photo: VNA) Vietnam’s export turnover of plastic products reached 4.2 billion USD in the first half of 2015, up 10.3 percent year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Plastic Association (VPA).
The growth rate is expected to expand once several trade agreements—including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which are under final negotiations—are signed.
According to VPA President Ho Duc Lam, the biggest difficulty facing the plastics sector is that up to 80 percent of plastic materials are imported. In 2014, Vietnam purchased 3.45 million tonnes of materials worth 6.32 billion USD from other countries.
Vietnamese plastic products only enjoy preferential export tax rates from 0-5 percent in the Japanese and Republic of Korea (RoK) markets, regardless of the origin of materials, as a benefit of Vietnam’s FTAs signed with these nations.
For other countries, the products need certificates of origin for the materials to receive the preferential tax rates.
Therefore, once the RCEP is inked, materials imported from the 10 ASEAN member countries and China, Australia, New Zealand, India, the RoK and Japan will meet origin standards.
Additionally, the export tax rates of Vietnamese plastic products will be also reduced to 0-5 percent once the TPP and EVFTA are signed.-VNA
