The Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is a new generation FTA between Vietnam and 28 EU member countries. EVFTA, along with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), are two FTAs with the widest scope of commitments and the highest level of commitment of Vietnam ever.
On December 1, 2015, EVFTA officially ended negotiations and on February 1, 2016, the agreement text was announced. On June 26, 2018, a new step of EVFTA was agreed. Accordingly, EVFTA is divided into two Agreements, one is the Trade Agreement (EVFTA), and the other is the Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA); At the same time, officially ending the legal review process for the EVFTA Agreement.
In August 2018, the legal review process for EVIPA was also completed. The two Agreements were signed on June 30, 2019. EVFTA and EVIPA were ratified by the European Parliament on February 12, 2020, and ratified by the Vietnamese National Assembly on June 8, 2020.
On March 30, 2020, the European Council also approved the EVFTA. For EVFTA, due to the completion of ratification procedures, this Agreement has officially taken effect from August 1, 2020. Regarding EVIPA, on the EU side, the Agreement will still have to be ratified by the Parliaments of all 27 EU member countries (after the UK completes Brexit) to take effect.
Full text of the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the European Union
Chapter 1: General Objectives and Definitions
Chapter 2: National Treatment and Market Opening for Goods
Appendix 2-A: Reduction or elimination of tariffs
Sub-annex 2-A-1: European Union Tariff Schedule
Sub-appendix 2-A-2: Vietnam's tariff schedule
Sub-Appendix 2-A-3: Vietnam's export tariff schedule
Sub-Appendix 2-A-4: Vietnam's specific measures on managing import and export of goods
Sub-Appendix 2-A-5: Goods excluded from the definition of remanufactured goods
Appendix 2-B: Motor vehicles and spare parts and equipment of motor vehicles
Appendix 2-C: Pharmaceuticals and Medical Equipment
Chapter 4: Customs and Trade Facilitation
Chapter 5: Technical barriers to trade
Chapter 6: Food safety and plant and animal quarantine measures
Appendix 6: Requirements and procedures for approval of product facilities
Chapter 7: Non-tariff barriers to trade and investment in renewable energy production
Chapter 8: Liberalization of investment, trade in services and e-commerce
Appendix 8-A: Schedule of specific commitments of the European Union
Appendix 8-B: Schedule of specific commitments of Vietnam
Annex 8-C: Vietnam's Exception to National Treatment
Annex 9-A: Coverage of the Government Procurement Chapter for the European Union
Appendix 9-B: Scope of Government Procurement Chapter for Vietnam
Chapter 10: Competition policy
Chapter 12: Intellectual property
Chapter 13: Trade and Sustainable Development
Chapter 15: Dispute resolution
Appendix 15-A: Arbitration Rules
Appendix 15-B: Code of Conduct for Arbitrators and Mediators
Appendix 15-C: Mediation mechanism
Chapter 16: Cooperation and Capacity Building
Chapter 17: Institutional Provisions, General Provisions and Final Provisions
Protocol 1: Regulations on originating goods and methods of administrative cooperation
Protocol 2: On mutual administrative assistance in the field of customs
Chapter 1: General goals and definitions
Chapter 2: Investment protection
Chapter 4: Institutional provisions, general provisions and final provisions
Appendix 1: Competent authority
Appendix 2: Exceptions for Vietnam on national treatment
Appendix 3: Memorandum of understanding on investment treatment
Appendix 4: Memorandum of understanding on requisitioning
Appendix 6: List of investment agreements
Appendix 7: Rules of arbitration proceedings
Appendix 8: Code of Conduct for Arbitrators and Mediators
Appendix 9: Mediation mechanism
Appendix 10: Conciliation mechanism to resolve disputes between investors and parties
Appendix 12: Concurrent procedures
Appendix 13: Working procedures of the appellate level
