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Exporters encouraged to cope with trade barriers
Exporters complain that it is getting more and more difficult to export products nowadays as exports have to go through many trade barriers installed by import countries. However, they have been told that they are going to have to get used to this.
Barriers everywhere
Duc Thanh Wood Processing Company has recently exported 2 million chopping boards to Germany. Accompanying the consignment of exports was a commitment by the producer not to use toxic chemicals in accordance with the newly-applied REACH standards (Standard Guide for European Union's Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals).
Nguyen Anh Ngan, Head of the Export Division of Duc Thanh Company, said that the foreign partner required Duc Thanh to provide information about the chemicals Duc Thanh uses in woodwork products, so that the partner can inform local agencies for easier management. “If we did not provide the required information, our exports might have been refused or we may have faced a heavy penalty,” Ngan said.
Meanwhile, seafood exporters are facing big difficulties in exporting products due to IUU Law (Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing), which will take effect in the EU on January 1, 2010. Under the law, all seafood import consignments have to have certificates showing the names of the fishing ships that caught the fish and the territorial waters where the products were caught. The exporters said that this is a difficult-to-meet requirement, and will have big impacts on Vietnam’s seafood exports, as the EU remains the biggest export market for Vietnam.
Problems are also occurring with fruit exports. Director of a fruit export company in HCM City said that the Government of Indonesia has released a new regulation to be applied as of August 18, 2009, requiring fruit exported to Indonesia to be accompanied by a certificate on food hygiene analysis granted by quarantine agencies. The information has worried Vietnamese fruit exporters who send goods to Indonesia, since they still do not know which Vietnamese agencies will be responsible for granting the certificates.
Gamers have to accept the rules of games
The US has recently enacted the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) effective February 10, 2010, under which the list of products subject to import limitations has been lengthened. “Enterprises need to study the act carefully and obey the law strictly if they want to continue exporting products to the market,” said Nguyen Khanh Duc, Director of Duc Anh Garment Company in HCM City.
The biggest problem for enterprises, according to Thong, is that they lack knowledge about the new regulations set by the import countries. For example, there are nearly 200 chemicals prohibited in garment and footwear products. Meanwhile, enterprises still feel embarrassed registering the chemicals used in their products.
Digby Gascoine, international expert of the EU funded Multilateral Trade Assistance Project (MUTRAP), also thinks that the trade barriers installed by the EU are overly strict. However, he said that export companies have to obey the regulations if they want to export products to the market.
Truong Dinh Hoe, Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), pointed out that the EU regulations are applied to all exporters, not only Vietnam. Therefore, Vietnamese exporters have no other choice than reorganising production and business to meet the set requirements.
vietnamnet, tt
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