WT/REG385/2  
 
3 September 2019  
(19-5653) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  Original: English/Spanish   
 
 
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT  BETWEEN THE EURASIA N ECONOMIC UNION (EA EU) 
AND VIET  NAM  
(GOODS AND SERVICES)  
QUESTIONS AND REPLIE S 
 The following communication, dated 27 August  2019, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegations of  Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation  and Viet Nam.  
 
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Questions from the delegation of Canada  
 
Provisions on Trade in Services  and Investment  
 
1.1.  Paragraph 4.44 states:  "Section V of Chapter 8 deals with investment and applies to 
all investments made by investors of the Russian Federation or Viet Nam in the territory 
of the other Party after 19 June 1981, in existence as of the date of entry into fo rce of the 
Agreement, but not to any act or fact that took place or any situation or dispute that arose 
or ceased to exist before entry into force of the Agreement (Article 8.29). " 
 What is the significance of 19 June 1981, as being the earliest date on wh ich 
investments must have been established in order for them to receive protection under 
this agreement?  
 
June 19, 1981 was the signing date of the Intergovernmental Agreement between the Socialist 
Republic of Viet Nam and the USSR on the establishment of the Joint Venture company Vietsovpetro 
(now the Russian – Vietnamese Joint Venture – Vietsovpetro).  
 
1.2.  Artic le 1.6.1 of the RTA entitled "Priority Investment Projects " appears to obligate 
the Parties to approve priority investment projects:  
Article 1.6.1 of the Agreement states:  "Priority investment projects shall be 
approved by the respective Governments of the  Member States of the Eurasian Economic 
Union on the one side and the Government of Viet Nam on the other side. " 
 
a. Is this provision an obligation for a Party to approve an investment project?  
The Parties have obligation to approve priority investment projects.  
 
b. How is this provision applied in practical terms?  
An example of a priority investment project under Article 1.6 of VN -EAEU FTA is the Protocol 
between Russia and SRV on supporting the production of motor transport vehicles in the terr itory of 
SRV. The implementation of the above -mentioned Protocol is under the supervision of the Russian -
Vietnamese Working Group of High Level for Priority Investment Projects. There is no requirement 
under the VN -EAEU FTA biding Parties to establish work ing groups for priority investment projects.  
 
For more detail, the Russian -Vietnamese High  Level Working Group for Priority Investment 
Projects (WGPP) was established in 2012 to support the projects that meet the criteria as follows:  WT/REG385/2  
 
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  - Projects must play cru cial roles for socioeconomic development. Activities of the projects 
must be constantly undertaken, meeting project implementation progress set out;  
- Projects need the Government’s supports and assistance.  
 
For projects approved to put in the list of prior ity investment projects, if within one year, 
projects have not been managed effectively and efficiently, the WGPP may exclude such project from 
the list of priority investment projects.  
 
c. How is the term "priority investment project " defined by Viet  Nam and  members 
of the Eurasian Economic Union?   
The term “priority investment projects” is defined as investment projects, which shall be 
approved by the Government of Viet Nam and the respective Governments of the Member States of 
the Eurasian Economic Union.  
 
Questions from the delegation of Ecuador  
 
Provisions on trade in goods  
 
Customs procedures  
 
1.3.  Paragraph 3.56 states:  "Chapter 5 deals with customs administration and trade 
facilitation. It aims at: (i) transparency of customs procedures and customs formalities; 
(ii) trade facilitation and harmonization of customs procedures; and (iii) customs 
cooperation including exchange of information between the central customs authorities 
of the Parties. The Parties agree on facilitation of customs admin istration measures 
(Article 5.3); release of goods within 48 hours except in circumstances stipulated in the 
Parties' customs laws and regulations (Article 5.4); risk management procedures 
(Article  5.5); customs cooperation (Article 5.6); and information e xchange (Article 5.7) ". 
Please explain how the Parties will implement expeditious customs processes and 
what their strategies will be to facilitate customs operations. If so, what is the relevant 
procedure?  
The FTA was signed in May 2015 before the entry i nto force the Trade Facilitation Agreement 
(TFA).  Nevertheless , provisions of FTA are based on the TFA.  
 
As to customs cooperation and information exchange, in June 2018, the customs authorities 
of the EAEU Member States and Vietnam signed the Protocol on Electronic Information Exchange, 
which provides for sharing information on traded goods between the Parties. Thus, the Protocol 
specifically implements the FTA provision regarding the establishment of “electronic information 
exchange” within five years fro m the date of entry into force of the FTA . 
 
Provisions on trade in  services and investment  
 
1.4.  Paragraph  4.44 states:  "Section V of Chapter 8 deals with investment and applies to 
all investments made by investors of the Russian Federation or Viet Nam in the t erritory 
of the other Party after 19 June 1981, in existence as of the date of entry into force of the 
Agreement, but not to any act or fact that took place or any situation or dispute that arose 
or ceased to exist before entry into force of the Agreement (Article 8.29) ". 
What treatment will be applied by other member countries of the Eurasian Economic 
Union with regard to investment?  
Chapter 8 “Trade in Services, Investment and Movement of Natural Persons” only applies for 
Viet Nam and the Russian Federation; the other member countries of the Eurasian Economic Union 
are not subjected to the provisions of this Chapter.  WT/REG385/2  
 
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  General provisions of the Agreement  
 
Sustainable development  
 
1.5.  Paragraph  5.28 states: " The Parties recognize the importance of strengthening their 
capacity to protect the environment and labour conditions and promote sustainable 
development and agree to a series of cooperation activities (Article 12.5). They may seek 
consultations on any matter arising under Chapter 12. They recal l the obligations deriving 
from membership of the ILO and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and 
Rights at Work and its Follow -up. Any matter arising under Chapter 12 is not subject to 
the Agreement's dispute settlement mechanism (Article 12.9) ". 
As well as providing for consultations between the Parties, is any provision made 
for dialogue and interaction with civil society?  If so, what is the relevant procedure?  
The Parties recognize the importance of strengthening their capacity to protect the 
environment and labor conditions and promoting sustainable development in their trade and 
investment relations in accordance with their respective laws and regulations and in respect of 
international laws; and endeavour to conduct their cooperation activit ies in different forms and fields 
as specified in the Agreement.   
 
According to the paragraph 3 of the Article 12.5 «Environmental and Labor cooperation»  
Cooperation activities under Chapter 12 may take the following forms:  
 
a) exchange of knowledge and expe riences;  
b) exchange of experts and researchers;  
c) organisation of joint workshops;  
d) promotion of cooperative activities between relevant ministries, research institutes and 
private enterprises; and  
e) development and implementation of joint research, projects and other relevant activities in 
areas of mutual interest.  
 
Electronic commerce  
 
1.6.  Paragraph  5.29 states: "In Chapter 13, entitled Electronic Technologies in Trade, the 
Parties recogni ze that e -commerce may increase trade opportunities and contribute to 
economic growth. They shall endeavour to work towards mutual recognition of digital 
signatures in the exchange of electronic documents by means of a trusted third -party 
service (Article 13.3). They shall endeavour not to adopt or maintain domestic laws and  
regulations containing the requirement to confirm the authenticity of transactions made 
in electronic form by presenting documents in paper form; and ensure that documents 
related to trade transactions are presented to the competent authorities of the Par ties in 
the form of an electronic document that is digitally signed (Article 13.4). Other provisions 
of Chapter 13 relate to private data protection (Article 13.5); cooperation on electronic 
technologies in trade (Article 13.6); electronic commerce develop ment (Article 13.7); and 
implementing arrangements (Article 13.8) ". 
Please explain what strategies the Parties would adopt to ensure the effective use 
of electronic commerce. How long do the Parties think it will take to ensure mutual 
recognition of digital signatures in the exchange of electronic documents by means of a 
trusted third -party service?  
The Free Trade Agreement between the EAEU and Viet Nam does not contain any provisions 
relating to adoption of strategies to ensure the eff ective use of electronic commerce. Therefore, such 
strategies are not supposed to be developed and adopted.  EAEU Member States do not have any 
timeframes for mutual recognition of digital signatures in the exchange of electronic documents by 
means of a tru sted third -party service, but the Parties of the Agreement shall endeavour  to cooperate 
in this sphere.  
 
 As for Viet Nam, Master Plan on E -commerce development in the period of 2016 -2020 and 
National Program on E -commerce development 2014 -2020 are the two  overall strategies promoting 
the electronic commerce in Viet Nam.  
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