WTO SEMINAR Hanoi, 5-6 August 2003 Review and status of Viet Nam's WTO Accession – Working Party Report and market access by Mr. Cato Adrian, Counsellor Accession Division WTO

WTO Seminar Hanoi 5-6 August 2003, Cato Adrian, Counsellor, Accesisons Division, WTO 2 Viet Nam applied for accession in January The General Council of the WTO decided to establish a Working Party to examine the application further at its meeting on 31 January The Working Party met for the first time on July 1998, and has since then held a further five meetings: 3 December July November April May The date of the seventh meeting of the Working Party has not been fixed, but might be held before the end of Summary of Accession

WTO Seminar Hanoi 5-6 August 2003, Cato Adrian, Counsellor, Accesisons Division, WTO 3 Summary of Accession cont’d. Until the end of 2000, the Working Party essentially engaged in general fact- finding. The bilateral market negotiations on goods and services had not been initiated as the initial offers of Viet Nam were still pending. The multilateral process moved one step further following the preparation and circulation of a Factual Summary of Points Raised by the WTO Secretariat in September Although the Factual Summary has the status of a "non-paper", and thus is not subject to formal examination by the Working Party, delegations are encouraged to make active use of it as they continue to review matters relevant for the future elaboration of the report of the Working Party and Viet Nam's Protocol of Accession. A revised Factual Summary was made available to delegations in April 2003, in time for the meeting in May.

WTO Seminar Hanoi 5-6 August 2003, Cato Adrian, Counsellor, Accesisons Division, WTO 4 Multilateral Process As indicated in the Factual Summary, WTO Members have flagged a number of issues which will need further clarification, and/or current measures and practices that in their view will need to be eliminated or transformed to conform with WTO requirements. The following list, which is illustrative rather than exhaustive, gives some indication of the extensive discussions taking place at present:

WTO Seminar Hanoi 5-6 August 2003, Cato Adrian, Counsellor, Accesisons Division, WTO 5 Multilateral Process - Economic Policies ECONOMIC POLICIES Foreign exchange policies. Limitations or restrictions on the convertibility of the Dong and international transfers, foreign currency surrender or self- balancing requirements for foreign investors. Foreign investment policies: Approval procedures, access to incentives, safeguarding of confidential business information. Progress in the privatization of State-owned enterprises. Dual pricing of services FRAMEWORK FOR MAKING AND ENFORCING POLICIES Administrative and judicial reform in Viet Nam. Establishment of an independent tribunal to consider appeals of administrative decisions in all matters affecting trade.

WTO Seminar Hanoi 5-6 August 2003, Cato Adrian, Counsellor, Accesisons Division, WTO 6 Multilateral Process - Goods POLICIES AFFECTING TRADE IN GOODS Trading rights: Limitations on the right of foreign-owned enterprises to import or export goods. Importation of designated items reserved for "specialized business enterprises". Progress in the establishment of a transparent customs tariff based on the Harmonized System/ASEAN Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature Coverage and justification for "other duties and charges", i.e. taxes and fiscal charges (in addition to customs duties) applied to imports but not to domestically-produced goods. Fees and charges for services rendered; very high charges for infrastructural services compared to other countries in the region, possibly applied in a manner providing less favourable treatment for imported goods relative to domestically-produced goods. Application of internal taxes – in particular differential tax rates applied to cigarettes and beer.

WTO Seminar Hanoi 5-6 August 2003, Cato Adrian, Counsellor, Accesisons Division, WTO 7 Multilateral Process - Goods cont’d Import prohibitions, quantitative restrictions and licensing. Coverage and justification. Import ban on cigarettes, certain combustion engines and second-hand motor vehicle spare parts. Import quotas on motor vehicles and other products. Licensing procedures. Transparency. Elimination of minimum import prices. Implementation of WTO–consistent customs valuation rules. Establishment of trade remedy legislation and related enforcement mechanisms. Export restrictions on rice, wood, and wood products. The operation of the Export Support Fund and other types of export subsidies accorded to non-agricultural products Incentives applied to export-oriented production Technical Barriers to Trade: Availability of TBT-related information; establishment of a TBT enquiry point; implementation of the Code of Good Practice for the preparation, adoption and implementation of standards.

WTO Seminar Hanoi 5-6 August 2003, Cato Adrian, Counsellor, Accesisons Division, WTO 8 Multilateral Process Goods - cont’d Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures: Publication of proposed measures and allowing a reasonable period for comment, establishment of an operational enquiry point. Trade-Related Investment Measures. Local content requirements in automobile and motorcycle manufacturing and mechanical engineering. Export requirement (80 per cent) for some industrial projects. State Trading: Establishment of a list of enterprises subject to regular notification. Incentives accorded to enterprises locating in export processing zones. Government procurement legislation and practices, participation in the WTO Committee on Government Committee, plans for future participation in the Agreement on Government Procurement.

WTO Seminar Hanoi 5-6 August 2003, Cato Adrian, Counsellor, Accesisons Division, WTO 9 Multilateral Process - TRIPS + Other INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION Level of protection of intellectual property in Viet Nam. Participation in international intellectual property agreements. Review of existing legislation and plans to introduce additional legislation to conform with the TRIPS Agreement. Enforcement – recourse to administrative, civil judicial procedures and remedies, special border measures, criminal procedures and level of penalties. Uniformity in IP fees and charges for foreigners and Vietnamese. OTHER Publication of trade-related legislation, administrative rulings and other trade- related matters. Trade agreements – extension of tariff preferences accorded on a bilateral basis to all WTO Members.

WTO Seminar Hanoi 5-6 August 2003, Cato Adrian, Counsellor, Accesisons Division, WTO 10 Multilateral Process - Agriculture Viet Nam provided agriculture support tables in the form of a non-paper, providing a useful exchange with interested WTO Members at a plurilateral meeting held on the fringes of the meeting of the Working Party in November A formal submission of domestic support and export subsidy tables from Viet Nam was circulated through the Secretariat in November These tables were discussed at a plurilateral meeting on 13 May 2003

WTO Seminar Hanoi 5-6 August 2003, Cato Adrian, Counsellor, Accesisons Division, WTO 11 Multilateral Process - Agriculture cont’d Apart from technical issues relating to the proper classification of programmes as "Green Box" or development subsidies or "Amber Box", methods of calculation, product specific versus non-product specific support, data sources, etc. the following points may be noted as issues that will be the subject of further discussion and negotiation: -Viet Nam's choice of reference period ( ) -Inclusion of de minimis support in total AMS -Viet Nam's support to its coffee sector -The inclusion of tax exemptions or preferential tax treatment in domestic support -The introduction and management of tariff rate quotas to regulate market access -Recourse to export subsidies. Several Members have already requested that Viet Nam bind its export subsidies at zero from the date of accession

WTO Seminar Hanoi 5-6 August 2003, Cato Adrian, Counsellor, Accesisons Division, WTO 12 Bilateral Market Access Negotiations on Goods and Services Viet Nam tabled initial offers for the market access negotiations on goods, covering agricultural and non-agricultural goods, in January A revised offer, pertaining only to non-agricultural products was circulated in November The initial offer of specific commitments for trade in services was circulated in January Viet Nam tabled a revised offer through the Secretariat in March Several Members have already engaged in negotiations with Viet Nam, or stated their intent to join in the negotiations at some point in the future, notably: United States European Communities Chinese Taipei Canada Australia Uruguay Switzerland New Zealand Japan Korea China Paraguay India