In the context of economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, countries have begun to cooperate in implementing many Agreements to restore the economy. One of them is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which has opened up opportunities for Vietnamese agricultural products to accelerate exports to member countries’ markets and help increase quality inputs. for consumption.

What is the RCEP Agreement?

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a free trade agreement (FTA) including 10 ASEAN member countries and 5 countries with which ASEAN has signed an agreement. Free trade agreements (Australia, China, Japan, Korea and New Zealand) were signed in Hanoi on November 15, 2020, towards the goal of forming the East Asia Free Trade Agreement (EAFTA). ) and the beginning of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia (CEPEA).

The content of the RCEP agreement includes: trade in goods, trade in services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, intellectual property, competition, dispute settlement, e-commerce, medium enterprises and small, and other problems.

The agreement was introduced to reduce tariffs and bureaucracy. It involves unifying rules of origin through the bloc, which can facilitate international supply chains and exchanges throughout the region. It also includes the prohibition of certain tariffs. The agreement does not focus on unions, environmental protection, or government subsidies.

The Agreement was signed on November 15, 2020 at the Online ASEAN Summit in Vietnam.

How does the agreement affect exports in Vietnam?

Firstly, the RCEP Agreement opens up opportunities to participate more deeply in regional and global supply chains because Vietnam is among the top 15 exporting countries of agro-forestry-fishery products in the world. Vietnamese agricultural products have been exported to over 190 countries and territories with an export turnover of 48.6 billion USD in 2021 and forecasted to reach over 55 billion USD in 2022.

In addition, the affirmation of effectiveness from multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) has brought the agriculture sector in particular and the export of agro-forestry-fishery products in general with a scale assessed as GDP. $0.2 trillion, about 30% of global GDP, a population of 2.3 billion (about 30% of the world’s population).

Second, the RCEP Agreement improves integration capacity for farmers and businesses because the competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural products is still weak compared to other member countries; processed agricultural products do not have enough value-added content to meet the regulations of the markets; agricultural products are similar to other countries in the region…

Meanwhile, member countries increased technical barriers on food safety, animal and plant quarantine, along with difficulties in negotiating market opening for agricultural products. In the domestic market, Vietnamese agricultural products will also have to compete with agricultural products from member countries imported into Vietnam.

In order to well manage the production stages as well as improve product standards, Indochina Holdings provides Vietnamese enterprises with trade promotion services, with a team of experts with many years of experience, we analyze and offer solutions. appropriate solution based on the status of the business. In 2022, Indochina Holdings has succeeded in consulting and promoting ST25 rice of Ngon Nhat Rice Company to the US for distribution in the market.

Cao Duy