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Firms still lack basic knowledge of WTO
Up to 66 per cent of Vietnamese export businesses admitted that they failed to understand the basic content of WTO rules, in a recent survey by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, while 50 per cent of businesses were unaware of the WTO commitments related to their sectors or business areas.
Since 1994, Viet Nam has been involved in 42 trade disputes, 35 of which were anti-dumping actions.
In order to avoid the imposition of measures by other trading partners on domestic exporters, Nguyen Thi Thu Trang from the chamber's Trade Remedies Council urged domestic firms to sharpen their competitiveness by increasing the quality of their products rather than by reducing prices, as well as to perfect their accounting and financial systems in accordance with international standards.
She emphasised the importance of closer co-operation between businesses, particularly within the same sector. Trade defence lawsuits could affect the entire sector, so the effort of only a small number of businesses was insufficient.
Exporters also needed to retain professional legal services to advise them on complex WTO-related legal issues, Trang said.
Viet Nam Textile and Garment Association vice chairman Le Van Dao said that, despite facing no anti-dumping suits to date, the garment sector lacked the necessary knowledge to deal with trade disputes.
Viet Nam had also failed to used trade defence measures for its own benefit, to protect its domestic industries in the way other countries had done, said the deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Competition Administration Department, Vu Ba Phu.
However, Trang said, while trade defence measures could be used to cope with abnormal import cases, they could not be used in every instance importers had problems. The measures could only be applied under specific conditions and circumstances set forth under WTO rules, so businesses needed to make a greater effort to understand those regulations.
Vietnamese firms were also entitled to ask State administrative agencies to investigate and apply measures against imported goods that present an instance of unhealthy competition, said head of the chamber's legal department, Tran Huu Huynh.
But many businesses have yet to pay due attention to this option due to their inadequate understanding of the measures and the lack of information or sufficient co-operation needed to lodge a complaint.
"This can cause losses for Vietnamese businesses on their home market," Huynh said.
He suggested businesses and associations be more proactive in applying legal measures under WTO regulations to raise their competitive capacity in the domestic market.
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