The European Parliament (EP)’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) and the Vietnamese Government have agreed that they have to make concerted efforts for the ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) in the next eight or nine months.



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A workshop of the Hai Anh Garment Joint Stock Company in Binh Minh commune of Binh Giang district, Hai Duong province


INTA Chairman Bernd Lange, who was on a working trip to Vietnam, made the statement at a press meeting on September 15.

He said the EP is in charge of approving all treaties or international trade agreements that the EU joins. The EVFTA will be considered in two stages, by the INTA and by the EP.

The deal is scheduled to be considered and verified by the INTA in the spring of 2018 to ensure that all commitments in the agreement will be fully implemented. If the EP reaches major consensus, the EVFTA will be approved next summer, Lange noted.

He expressed his belief that the trade pact will bring about sustainable growth and benefits to both sides.

To soon conclude the EVFTA negotiation, which is now in the final stage of legal review, Lange said Vietnam should soon ratify eight core conventions of the International Labour Organisation to ensure that the deal will equally benefit all people.

The EU and Vietnam should pledge not to obtain economic benefits at any cost and to ensure safety for the environment, he added.

To guarantee that all people will benefit from the EVFTA, the two sides are set to establish a new mechanism called domestic advisory groups to give advice to their governments, thus improving the deal’s contents during the implementation and creating opportunities for both sides’ organisations to exchange information.

VNA