Once the EVFTA comes into effect, the EU will eliminate import tariffs for nearly 86 percent of the tariff lines and over 99 percent of tariff lines will be lifted after seven years. (Illustrative image. Source: VNA) Brussels (VNA) – The EuropeanParliament (EP)’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) adoptedrecommendations for the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-VietnamInvestment Protection Agreement (IPA) in Brussels on January 21.
The recommendations for the EVFTA were approved with29 votes in favour, six against, and five abstains; and that on the IPA got 26approval votes out of the 39.
The voting event saw the participation of 40members of the INTA under the chair of INTA chairman Bernd Lange.
The EVFTA consists of 17 chapters, two protocolsand some memoranda of understanding on trade, goods, services, investment,trade remedies, competition, State businesses, government procurement, andintellectual property.
Once the agreement comes into effect, the EUwill eliminate import tariffs for nearly 86 percent of the tariff lines andover 99 percent of tariff lines will be lifted after seven years. This is the firstFTA that the EU has signed with a developing country.
Meanwhile, the IPA includes modern regulationson investment protection that allow enforcement and implementation through anew system of investment courts as well as ensure the two sides’ governments’rights to regulate benefits of their citizens.
The plenary session of the EP is expected tovote on the two agreements in mid-February this year.
If ratified by the EP, the EVFTA will come intoforce a month after the two sides notify each other that the legal process isover. Meanwhile, the IPA will still need approval by the parliaments of each EUmember state, which could take several years./.
VNA
