G/SG/N/7/VNM/1  
 
15 May 2013  
(13-2511)  Page: 1/5  
Committee on Safeguards  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.4 OF THE AGREEMENT ON 
SAFEGUARDS BEFORE TAKING A PROVISIONAL SAFEGUARD 
MEASURE REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 6 
VIET NAM 
(Vegetable oil, specifically refined soybean oil,  
refined stearin oil and refined olein oil) 
The following communication, dated 10 May 2013, is  being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Viet Nam.1 
 
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 In accordance with Ordinance No. 42/2002/PL-UBTVQH10 dated 25 May 2002 of the Standing 
Committee of the National Assembly on Safeguards on Imports of Foreign Goods into Vietnam and 
Decree No. 150/2003/ND-CP dated 8 December 2003 of the Government providing detailed regulations for implementation of Ordinance on safeguards on imports of foreign goods into 
Vietnam, the Ministry of Industry and Trade no tifies the application of provisional safeguard 
measures on vegetable oil, specifically refined soybean oil, refined stearin oil and refined olein oil classified under HS code of 1507.90.90, 1511.90.91, 1511.90.92 and 1511.90.99 imported into Vietnam, as follows: 
 
1. Background  
On 26 December 2012, the Ministry of Industry  and Trade issued the Decision No. 7968/QD-BCT 
on the initiation of safeguard investigation on refined vegetable oil (hereinafter referred to as “subject product”) imported from various countries. 
 
2. Product under investigation  The product under investigation is refined soybean oil and refined palm oil (including Olein oil IV57 
and Stearin oil).  
 a) Specification 
 
 Refined Soybean Oil: homogeneous liquid, light yellow, transparent, odorless or has a 
characteristic odor of refined soybean oil. 
 
 Refined Palm Oil: semi-liquid, semi-solid under normal conditions, light yellow, odorless or 
has a characteristic odor of refined palm oil, including 2 lines of product as follows: 
 
 Refined Olein Oil: liquid state under normal conditions, sometimes there are 
crystallized oil particles but become transparent when heated slightly, yellow or light yellow, odorless or has a characteristic odor of refined palm oil. 
 
                                               
1 A copy of the Decision No. 2564/QD – BCT dated 22 April 2013 of the Minister of Ministry of Industry 
and Trade has been submitted electronically. To cons ult this document, please  contact Ms Hilary Budd 
(hilary.budd@wto.org) or Ms Delphine Naville (d elphine.naville@wto.org) of the Rules Division. G/SG/N/7/VNM/1 
 
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   Refined Stearin Oil: solid state under normal conditions, milky, odorless or has a 
characteristic odor of refined palm oil. 
 b) Usage: 
 
 Refined Soybean Oil: for direct consumption, salad dressings, mayonnaise making, frying 
and cooking foods. 
 
 Refined Palm Oil: for separation into refined Olein and Stearin oil, or used in food processing 
industry to produce margarine, ghee oil or other products, can be used for frying and cooking. 
 
 Refined Olein Oil: for cooking and direct consumption, frying and cooking foods or 
used in food processing industry. 
 
 Refined Stearin Oil: for production of shortening, used in the confectionery and 
noodles industry. 
 
c) Customs classification:  
Tax Categories 
(HS Code) Description Unit Import duty 
1507.90.90 Soybean Oil and refined Soybean oil segments 
but are not modified chemically Kg - ATIGA: 0% 
- ACFTA: 15% 
- AKFTA: 15% 
- MFN: 15% 
- General: 22.5% Others 
1511.90.91 Palm oil and refined solid segments. Kg - ATIGA: 0% 
- ACFTA: 12.5% 
- AKFTA: 0% 
- MFN: 25% - General: 37.5% 
1511.90.92 Other palm oil and refined palm oil segments, 
packaged with net weight not exceeding 20kg Kg - ATIGA: 0% 
- ACFTA: 12.5% 
- AKFTA: 0% 
- MFN: 25% 
- General: 37.5% 
1511.90.99 Palm oil and refined palm oil segments but are 
not modified chemically Kg - ATIGA: 0% 
- ACFTA: 12.5% 
- AKFTA: 0% 
- MFN: 25% - General: 37.5% Others 
 
3. Domestic like product or directly competitive product 
 
Domestically produced like product consists of refined soybean oil, refined palm oil (including 
refined Olein oil IV57 and refined Stearin oil). These  products have the same components of raw materials, specification, production methods, pu rposes of use with the imported product above. 
 
4. Countries or origin of products und er investigation subject to provisional 
safeguard measure 
 
Provisional safeguard measure is applied to imported product from all countries under investigation, except for countries excluded from the investigation in accordance with the regulation on negligible volume of imports ( Article 13 of Decree 150/2003/ND-CP  of 
8 December 2003 detailing regulations for implementation of Ordinance on safeguards on imports 
of foreign goods into Vietnam) (See list of countries excluded from the investigation in the 
Appendix below). 
 G/SG/N/7/VNM/1 
 
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  5. Increase in import duties as pr ovisional safeguard measures applied 
 Ministry of Industry and Trade sh all apply provisional safeguards measure in the form of import 
duty of 5% on subject product imported into Vietnam. 
6. Effective date of the pr ovisional safeguard measures 
 Provisional safeguard measures will take effect after 15 days from the date of signing of the 
Decision of the Minister of Industry and Trade. 
 7. Duration of the provisional safeguard measures  
Provisional safeguard measures will be applied for a period not exceeding 200 days since the 
effective date.  
8. Basis for application of the provisional safeguard measures 
 a) Preliminary determination that increased imports have caused or threaten to cause serious 
injury to the domestic industry 
 In the period of 2009-2012, the volume of subject product increased in both relative and absolute 
terms. In absolute terms, in 2010 the volume of  import of subject product increased by 16.71% 
compared to 2009, continued to grow by 23.95% in 2011 and by 2012 rose significantly by 
45.83%. In relative terms, in both 2010 and 2011 , the volume of imports increased by 18.82% 
and 8.70% respectively and rose sharply in 2012, by 57.61%. 
 
The increase in imports has caused serious injury to the domestic vegetable oil industry in Vietnam. Specifically: 
 
- Market share : in the period of 2009-2012, the market share of the domestic industry decline 
from 37% to 22%. This reduction corresponds to an increase in the market share of imports (from 33% to 51%) during the same period. Especially in 2012, the market share of imports was nearly 
triple that of the domestic industry. 
 - Production : the decline in production was obvious in 2012, decreased by 30% compared to 
2011 and was the lowest in the period of 2009-2012. 
 - Capacity : although the design capacity of the dome stic industry has increased steadily over 
the years to meet the demand for consumption in the market, utilization capacity decreased 
significantly from 76% in 2011 to 56% in 2012.  
 - Turnover : in the period of 2009-2011, turnover of the domestic industry has consistent 
growth. However, in 2012 turnover suddenly declined by 32% compared to 2011. 
 - Profit : corresponding to the decreasing trend in turnover, profit plummeted dramatically in 
2012 in contrast to the trend in the period of 200 9-2011. Profit of the domestic industry in 2012 
decreased by 35% compared to 2011, the lowest level in the period of 2009-2012.  
 
- Price: in 2012, the price of imported product significantly declined by 15% compared to 
2011. The decrease in price of imported product by 15% caused domestic manufacturers to lower 
their price by 9% in 2012 despite of being in the trend to increase during the period of 2009-2011.  
- Investment : in the period of 2009-2012, investment of the domestic industry for the like 
product also declined, clearly illustrated in both 2011 and 2012. Specifically, in 2011 investment fell by nearly 20% compared to 2010 and in 2012 continued to decline by 3% compared to 2011. 
 
- Employees : although in the period of 2009-2010, labor force in the direct production of 
subject product remained stable, since 2011, the labor force decreased dramatically: by 28% and 
19% in the year 2011 and 2012, respectively. 
 - Inventory : in 2012, inventories suddenly increased, approximately 33% reaching the 
highest level during the period of 2009-2012 and accounted for 5% of total production. G/SG/N/7/VNM/1 
 
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  b) Delay in the application of provisional safeguard measures would cause or threaten to cause 
serious injury to the domestic industry which is difficult to overcome  As mentioned in the information above, increased imports have caused serious injury to the 
domestic industry. This is reflected in the decline of market share, turnover, profit, capacity, labor 
and an increase in inventories. In particular, this decline was evident in 2012 and tended to continue to increase in the future. If this situation continues, the domestic industry will inevitably 
continue to lose market share, leading to decrease in turnover, profit and production stagnate. 
 In response to this situation, the domestic industry is at risk to stop production if provisional safeguard measures are not applied in a prompt manner. 
 
9. The next procedures  
When the provisional safeguard measures take  effect, the General Department of Vietnam 
Customs shall proceed to apply import duty of 5% on subject product imported from 
countries/regions under investigation, except for those eligible for exclusion in the list of the 
Appendix below. 
 Information on the decision to apply provisional safeguard measures on subject product is accessible at the website of th e Ministry of Industry and Tr ade (http://www.moit.gov.vn) and 
Vietnam Competition Authority (http://www.vca.gov.vn or http://www.qlct.gov.vn ). 
 
 Further information and comments should be sent to: 
 
Division for investigation of trade remedies cases Vietnam Competition Authority - Ministry of Industry and Trade 
Address: 25 Ngo Quyen Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam 
Phone: (+84 4) 222.05002 (ext: 1029) (Ms. Mai Quynh) Fax: (+84 4) 222.05003 Email: quynhpm@moit.gov.vn; giangls@moit.gov.vn. 
 
  
 
  G/SG/N/7/VNM/1 
 
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  APPENDIX 
LIST OF COUNTRIES EXCLUDED FROM THE INVESTIGATION 
Albania Grenada Paraguay 
Algeria Guatemala Peru 
Angola Guinea Philippines 
Antigua and Barbuda Guinea-Bissau Poland 
Argentina Guyana Qatar 
Armenia Haiti Republic of Congo 
Azerbaijan Honduras Republic of Yemen 
Bahrain Hungary Romania 
Bangladesh India Russia 
Barbados Iraq Rwanda 
Belarus Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Samoa 
Belize Islamic Republic of Iran São Tomé and Príncipe 
Benin Jamaica Saudi Arabia 
Bhutan Jordan Senegal 
Bolivia Kazakhstan Serbia 
Bosnia and Herzegovina Kenya Seychelles 
Botswana Kiribati Sierra Leone 
Brazil Kosovo Solomon Islands 
Brunei Darussalam Kuwait South Africa 
Bulgaria Kyrgyz Republic Sri Lanka 
Burkina Faso Lao People’s Democratic Republic St. Kitts and Nevis 
Burundi Latvia St. Lucia 
Cambodia Lebanon St. Vincent and the Grenadines 
Cameroon Lesotho Sudan 
Cape Verde Liberia Suriname 
Central African Republic Libya Swaziland 
Chad Lithuania Syrian Arab Republic 
Chile Madagascar Tajikistan 
China Malawi Tanzania 
Colombia Maldives Thailand 
Comoros Mali The Bahamas 
Costa Rica Mauritania The Gambia 
Côte d’Ivoire Mauritius Timor-Leste 
Croatia Mexico Togo 
Democratic Republic of Congo Moldova Tonga 
Djibouti Mongolia Trinidad and Tobago 
Dominica Montenegro Tunisia 
Dominican Republic Morocco Turkey 
Ecuador Mozambique Turkmenistan 
Egypt Myanmar Tuvalu 
El Salvador Namibia Uganda 
Equatorial Guinea Nepal Ukraine 
Eritrea Nicaragua United Arab Emirates 
Ethiopia Niger Uruguay 
Fiji Nigeria Uzbekistan 
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Oman Vanuatu 
Gabon Pakistan Venezuela 
Georgia Panama Zambia 
Ghana Papua New Guinea Zimbabwe 
Source: IMF 2011. 
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