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Vietnam cuts tariffs by half on eight Lao products
Vietnam has decided to slash import tariffs by half on eight commodities, mainly foodstuff, farm products and engines, coming from Laos.
The decision was made by the Finance Ministry on July 15 within the roadmap to implement the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme applied by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since 1992 in a bid to form an ASEAN free trade area of 500 million consumers.
Since the application of the CEPT mechanism in 1996, Vietnam has axed tariffs on 10,324 lines of goods, of which 10,000 types enjoyed zero to 5 percent rates by the end of 2006.
Vietnam has joined efforts with Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia to abolish import tariffs on all commodities originating from ASEAN countries by 2018.
To realise the roadmap, the Finance Ministry last month issued a new preferential import tariff list for the 2008-2013 period, cutting import taxes down to 5 percent and even zero percent for thousands of commodities originating from ASEAN.
Art works, ancient articles, interiors, optical equipment and devises, watches, live animals, food and foodstuff are among those listed.
According to the roadmap, specially-designed automobiles imported from ASEAN member countries will enjoy a 5 percent tariff instead of the current 10 percent rate and automobiles with nine seats downwards will get a slash in tax rates from the current 83 percent to 60 percent by 2013.
VOV
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