The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has advised Vietnamese exporters to strictly abide by regulations related to products’ origin as many members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have strengthened trade safeguard tools to protect their domestic industries.

According to the Trade Remedies Authorities of Vietnam under the MoIT, in nearly six months from May to October of 2018, the world’s 20 largest advanced and emerging economies (G20) launched 85 trade defence cases, including 63 anti-dumping cases, 19 anti-subsidy cases and 3 self-defence cases.

To ensure the effectiveness of trade remedies, the countries have kept a close eye on imports to uncover fraud.

Investigations into trade remedy avoidance against Vietnamese enterprises have also increased.

As of December 2018, 19 investigations were launched on export products from Vietnam, mostly steel, fibre, household appliances and electronics.

Vietnamese products facing high risks of investigation are plywood exported to the US as well as truck and bus tyres to the European Union.  

In that context, the MoIT and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) have sought to tighten the issuance of origin certificates, with special attention on products with high risk of fake Vietnamese origin certificates being used.

The MoIT has also work with the Ministry of Finance to watch for abnormal signs in exports to some markets to avoiding damaging Vietnam’s prestige and the interests of exporters.

The MoIT also asked for businesses’ help in monitoring the market and providing information in violation cases.