°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ: 2005 NEWS ITEMS
20 September 2005
VIET NAM MEMBERSHIP NEGOTIATIONS 15 SEPTEMBER 2005
Working party examines first revision of membership report
Viet Nam’s membership negotiations have taken a substantial step forward with the working party looking in detail on 15 September 2005 at the first revision of the document that is a core part of the deal.
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The point-by-point examination of the first revision of the Working
Party Report represents a substantial step forward in the 10-year-old
negotiation. The revision, circulated on 5 September 2005 was made possible
as a result of comments in an informal meeting in May, and the tremendous
efforts and progress Viet Nam has made since then.
Nevertheless, a lot remains to be done. Members said a number of issues
still require further clarification, in particular, trading rights and the
functioning and status of state trading enterprises. Viet Nam did not
mention its original hope of reaching agreement by the Hong Kong Ministerial
Conference in December, simply stating that it is eager to end the
negotiation soon.
Norwegian Ambassador Eirik Glenne, who chairs the working party, said that
“we still have work to do” and left open the dates of the next working party
meeting pending consultations with delegations and the Secretariat.
The latest discussions took place in the 10th meeting of Viet Nam’s
Accession Working Party in Geneva. The Vietnamese delegation was led by
Trade Vice-Minister and chief negotiator Luong Van Tu (see statement
below).
Since the last (informal) meeting in May, Vietnam has held a number of
technical and bilateral meetings with members. Ambassador Glenne said these
“have helped move the process visibly forward”.
Vietnam submitted several documents for the working party to consider,
including replies to additional questions in various areas of concern,
updated information on the implementation of the Customs Valuation
Agreement, and details on new or amended legislation. A new revised
questionnaire on import licensing and domestic support tables on agriculture
were also circulated.
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Bilateral negotiations
Work on bilateral agreements with the members of the Working Party has
intensified in the last few months and copies of ten bilateral agreements
have been submitted to the Secretariat.
“We have now concluded bilateral market access negotiations with Argentina,
Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Cuba,
European Union, El Salvador, Iceland, India, Japan, Republic of Korea,
Norway, Paraguay, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey and Uruguay,” Vice Minister
Luong said. “We have achieved positive developments with such counterparts
as Australia, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Mexico, New Zealand and the US.”
In his speech, the head of the Vietnamese delegation urged “some” °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ
members to be more flexible for the conclusion of the bilateral
negotiations.
“In that spirit,” said the vice minister, “we strongly wished members not to
press Vietnam to undertake ‘°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ-plus’ obligations or be subject to double
standards which are too high for our economy to be able to resist.”
“On this occasion I kindly request remaining members (the US, Australia, New
Zealand, Mexico, Honduras and Dominican republic) to take due regard of
Vietnam’s difficulties and show reasonable and flexible requirements in
order of conclusion of our bilateral negotiations.”
Asean, Cuba and India also asked for members not to make excessive or undue
demands on Vietnam.
However, some bilateral partners said there is still “distance to bridge”
and that they consider their core interests have not yet been met.
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Multilateral issues
Vice Minister Luong also updated members on Viet Nam’s legislation. The
seventh session of the National Assembly, held in May and June this year,
passed 15 laws, four more than scheduled, he said.
These included the amended Civil Code, the amended Commercial Law, the Law
on State Auditing, the Law on signing of, Accession to and Implementation of
International Treaties, the amended Customs Laws, the amended Law on Export
and Import Duties, the amended Mineral Law and the amended Law on Complaint
and Denunciation.
The National Assembly also voted to speed up its legislation programme in an
attempt to achieve the goal of promulgating within 2005 important laws
concerning °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ membership.
The agenda of the next session of the National Assembly, which is scheduled
for 18 October, includes discussing and possibly adopting 14 Laws and one
resolution, including the Law on Intellectual Property, the Law on
Electronic Transactions, the (uniform) Enterprise Law, the (common)
Investment Law, the amended Law on Value Added Tax, the amended Law on
Special Consumption Tax, and others.
The discussion of the first revised working party draft revealed a number of
issues still requiring further clarification, in particular, trading rights
and the functioning and status of the state trading enterprises, considered
by the US as “a central issue” in this negotiation, and which attracted a
lot of questions from US, Switzerland, Australia and the EU. Areas of
concern also included subsidies, the investment regime and the taxation
policies.
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Chair’s conclusions
The chairperson concluded that “It is clear that some more work is needed on
the various sections of the Report”.
Nevertheless, the chairperson also said that on the bilateral front, the
market access negotiations are advancing very well and he expected that for
the next meeting Vietnam would have concluded all its remaining market
access negotiations in goods and services.
The chairperson asked members seeking factual and other changes in the text
of the report to send their comments and drafting suggestions in writing to
the Secretariat by 6 October and he also asked Vietnam to submit updated
information with respect to legislative developments and a revised
legislative action plan before next meeting.
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Next
A plurilateral technical meeting (i.e. a sub-group of the working party) on domestic support and export subsidies in agriculture was scheduled for Friday afternoon 16 September. Bilateral meetings will continue around the world and in Geneva. No date has been set for the next working party meeting.
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Background
Working party members: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria,
Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El
Salvador, European Union and member states, Honduras, Hong Kong China,
Iceland, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Kyrgyz Republic,
Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama,
Paraguay, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Chinese
Taipei, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Uruguay
Chairperson: Ambassador Eirik Glenne (Norway)
Viet Nam’s Working Party was established on 31 January 1995. The previous
formal meeting was on 15 December 2004, with an informal meeting on 20 May
2005. Bilateral market access talks are well underway and will continue.
_______________________________
Vice Minister’s statement
STATEMENT
BY H.E. MR. LUONG VAN TU, VICE MINISTER OF TRADE AND CHIEF NEGOTIATOR
at the 10th Session of the Working Party on the Accession of Vietnam to the
°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ
Geneva, 15 September 2005
Opening statement
We are so pleased to come back to Geneva and attend this special meeting,
which is graciously convened just after the summer break — a period that was
not at all a holiday for many of us. But the good thing is that these
efforts have not been in vain.
So please allow me, on behalf of the Vietnamese delegation, to express our
sincere gratitude to our counterparts, to those who are here and to those
who have worked tirelessly throughout the months, for their immense efforts.
My special thanks also go to the staff of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ Secretariat whose great
work has meant that we have all the necessary documents ready in our hands.
Needless to say, their competence and whole-heartedly hard work are
invaluable to us, especially at such critical time as present.
Firstly, I am pleased to inform the Working Party that, since early this
year, we have made vital progresses in bilateral negotiations with all
partners. We have now concluded bilateral market access negotiations with
Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia,
Cuba, EU, El Salvador, Iceland, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Norway,
Paraguay, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, Uruguay. We have achieved positive
developments with such counterparts as Australia, Honduras and Dominican
Republic, Mexico, New Zealand and the US and reached to the final stage with
some of them. The headway made in the bilateral market access negotiations
has undoubtedly provided an impetus to conclude the whole process of
Vietnam’s accession to the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ.
I would like to recall that in his concluding remarks made at the last
Meeting on 20 May, Mr Chairman stressed it was our interests to have a truly
comprehensive and up-to-date revised draft report for examination at this
Meeting. We are glad that, with the hard work from all sides, especially
assistance by the Secretariat, a new — and greatly improved — version of the
Draft Report has been completed and circulated to all members of the Working
Party. We strongly believe you all here realise significant strides and
goodwill that Vietnam has demonstrated in most issues of concern of the
Members of the Working Party. In addition to a significant amount of new
information supplemented, Vietnam has also accommodated in substance many
requests in a wide range of issues. We have been and will continue to work
constructively and resolutely with all Members of the Working Party in order
to reach a fair, realistic and mutually acceptable solution to the remaining
issues.
With respect to our domestic legislative updates, the Seventh session of the
National Assembly of Vietnam which has been held during this May and Jun,
has impressively passed 15 laws — four laws more than scheduled, notably the
amended Civil Code, the amended Commercial Law, the Law on State Auditing,
the Law on signing of, Accession to and Implementation of International
Treaties, the amended Customs Laws, the amended Law on Export and Import
Duties, the amended Mineral Law and the amended Law on Complaint and
Denunciation. The National Assembly also voted for the expedition of its
legislation program in an attempt to achieve the set goal of promulgation in
2005 of important laws serving its early °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ accession. According to the
agenda of its next session, which is scheduled for 18th October, the
National Assembly will discuss and possibly adopt 14 Laws and one
Resolution, among them are the Law on Intellectual Property, the Law on
Electronic Transactions, the (uniform) Enterprise Law, the (common)
Investment Law, the amended Law on Value Added Tax, the amended Law on
Special Consumption Tax. As such in 2005, the National Assembly of Vietnam
has and will adopt all laws that are necessary to the implementation of °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ
Agreements and Vietnam’s accession commitments. This is a highlight, active
and different from all previously acceding members. We would like to take
this opportunity to thank all Working Party’s members for their much needed
technical assistance and timely comments during our legal drafting process.
These comments have been reflected upon and, to the most extent possible,
incorporated into the legislative documents. This reflects our determination
to adjust legal framework to comply with °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ regulations.
However, while we are working intensively for °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ membership, we urge
further flexibilities from some °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ members to conclude our respective
bilateral negotiations. In that spirit, we strongly wish members not to
press Vietnam to undertake “°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ-plus” obligations or be subject to double
standards which are too high for our economy to be able to resist.
The Government of Vietnam presents its determination of early accession to
the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ on the basis of the balance between legitimate rights and clearly
defined obligations. The early accession of Vietnam to the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ will not only
further strengthen °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ’s power and credibility but benefits Vietnam’s trade
development and other °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ members who have trading relations with Vietnam as
well. Vietnam up till now has committed to implement upon accession the
following agreements: TRIPS [intellectual property], TRIMs [investment
measures], CVA [Customs Valuation Agreement], TBT [technical barriers to
trade], SPS [sanitary and phytosanitary measures], ILP [import licensing
provisions], A/D & C/V [anti-dumping and (subsidies and) countervailing
measures], ROO [rules of origin].
With regard to the SCM [subsidies and countervailing measures] exclusively,
as being put forward in last working party, due to the fact that Vietnam is
still a poor country with GDP per capita of around US$400, it is requested
that Vietnam be eligible special and differential treatment for developing
countries at a comparable level of development. Vietnam wishes to receive
positive responds from °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ members, especially in this final stage of the
negotiation process. We thank members for their high political supports
during our accession, and we wish negotiators to promptly turn these into
realistic actions to conclude our negotiations.
On this occasion, I kindly request remaining members (the US, Australia, New
Zealand, Mexico, Honduras and Dominican Republic) to take due regards of
Vietnam’s difficulties and show reasonable and flexible requirements in
order of conclusion of our bilateral negotiations.
I would like to thank the US, EU, Canada, Switzerland, Korea, China and
Australia for their technical assistance extended to Vietnam so far.
I once again wish to express our heart-felt thanks to all Parties involved
in our accession process. I do hope today’s session will most be
constructive and productive for all of us.
On the bilateral negotiating process
The bilateral negotiating process witnessed an acceleration and
intensification of negotiations with highlighted developments achieved over
the past 8 months.
As you may all be aware, we have concluded our respective bilateral market
access negotiations with almost all partners of concerns. They include
Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia,
Cuba, EU, El Salvador, Iceland, India, Japan, Korea, Norway, Paraguay,
Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey and Uruguay.
Vietnam has so far wrapped up bilateral negotiations with all its European
and Asian trading partners.
We have also been working hard to narrow gaps to conclude our bilateral
negotiations with the remaining Members that are Australia, Dominican
Republic, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand and the US.
Just a few weeks ago, our negotiation team visited and worked at Wellington
and Canberra. We will continue our work both in capital and Geneva to bring
these negotiations to successful ends.
During the past few months, we also have several meetings with Mexico,
Dominican Republic and Honduras which produced remarkable mutual
understandings. Results from these meetings will serve as good basis for us
to finish up remaining differences.
With the US, we have had a very important meeting back in June when the
Prime Minister of Vietnam made a historical visit to the US. Leaders of the
two countries have hailed the meeting as a success, which produces
significant progress on all fronts. Our two delegations will continue to
hold meetings of all aspects as soon as the Working Party finishes with a
view to further accelerate accorded achievements and to conclude the
negotiation.
Vietnam has committed its market access liberalisation at a level higher
than that of most newly acceeded countries and far beyond than commitments
made by °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ Members of similar development level. We therefore call upon our
remaining partners to show their viewpoint and approach which are reasonable
and suitable to such low level of development as of Vietnam in its
transition, based on the general °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ standards so that we can finish the
process of accession negotiation of Vietnam.