PRESS RELEASE 
 
PRESS/455 
7 November 2006 
 
(06-5348) 
ACCESSIONS 
General Council approves Viet Nam’s membership 
Viet Nam is set to become the WTO’s 150th member  following a decision by  the General Council on 
7 November 2006 to approve the Southeast Asian country’s membership agreement. Viet Nam 
now has to ratify the deal, and it will become a member 30 days after it has informed the WTO 
that it has ratified. 
 
The decision ends over 11 years of preparation, including eight years of negotiation. The working 
party of members negotiating with Viet Nam was set up on 31 January 1995 and met 14 times 
between July 1998 and October 2006. 
 “The remarkable efforts that Viet Nam has put into preparing for membership should be an 
inspiration to us all, as several members have observed,” WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said. 
 “Viet Nam has shown how anchoring domestic reforms in the WTO can yield dramatic results. Viet 
Nam’s economic growth topped 8% last year, foreign direct investment rose steeply to over 
$6 billion, and exports surged by over 20%. Mo re must surely follow with the new laws, 
administrative measures, and commitments on goods and services that are in Viet Nam’s 
membership package.” 
 Vietnamese Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen sa id the negotiations for WTO membership closely 
accompanied his country’s economic reforms known as “doi moi”. 
 “It is these reforms that ensure Viet Nam’s cons tant economic growth, forming a firm foundation 
for the accession as a whole,” he said. “On the other hand, WTO membership also helps Vietnam 
refine its reform process, creating  opportunities for trade expansion, which is an important tool for 
economic growth. 
 
“WTO accession poses major challenges to Vietnam’ s economy. However, we do believe that with 
cooperation extended by the members, Vietnam will make the most of opportunities, successfully 
handling challenges, ensuring fast and sustainabl e growth, pro-actively playing its part for the 
development of the multilateral trading system.”  
According to the latest WTO data, Viet Nam’s merchandise exports were US$26.5 billion in 2004, 
and its imports were US$32.0 billion.  PRESS/455 
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 What Viet Nam has committed 
 The package of Viet Nam’s accession documents consists of:  
• Viet Nam’s commitments on goods — the 560-page list (or “schedule”) of tariffs, quotas and 
ceilings on agricultural subsidies, and in some cases the timetable for phasing in the cuts 
 
• Viet Nam’s commitments on services — the 60-page document (also a “schedule”) describing 
in which services it is giving access to foreign service providers and any additional conditions, including limits on foreign ownership 
 
• The working party’s 260-page report — describing Viet Nam’s legal and institutional set up for 
trade, along with commitments it has made in many of these areas. 
 
These are some highlights: 
Goods: 
‘Schedule of Concessions and Commitments on Goods’  
For the majority of agricultural and non-agricultural goods, Viet Nam is promising ceilings (or 
“bound” rates) on duties ranging between zero an d 35%. Some of these involve reductions phased 
over periods up to 2014, the precise end date varying from product to product. 
 Among products with higher ceilings are: alcoholic drinks, tobacco products, instant coffee and 
some related products, new and used motor vehi cles and components, and roof tiles. Used 
vehicles less than five years old can be charged additional flat-rate duties up to specified limits.  
These “bound” rates are legal ceilings. The actual duties that Viet Nam can charge (the “applied” 
rates) can be lower than the committed rates. Among the details of Viet Nam’s commitments is a promise not to charge higher applied rates on rapeseed (also known as colza or canola) and 
derived meal, oil and other products than the duti es actually charged on soy products — allowing 
the oilseed products to compete with soy.  
In the separate working party report, Viet Nam has also reserved the right to charge applied duties 
in the form of specific duties (e.g. dollars per tonne) instead of percentages of the price (“ad valorem”) so long as the result stays below the committed ceilings. 
 
A handful of products are going to be protected wi th tariff quotas (higher duties for quantities 
outside the quotas, and lower duties for quantities within the quotas): eggs, tobacco, sugar, and 
salt (which Viet Nam says is the main income source for 100,000 poor farmers in coastal areas). 
But Viet Nam will expand the quotas until they disappear according to agreed timetables.  
Viet Nam has also signed the “plurilateral” Information Technology Agreement (“plurilateral” 
meaning only some WTO members have signed). Fo r these products, Viet Nam has agreed to allow 
imports in duty-free. In some cases, the zero du ty will apply immediately; in others it will be 
achieved gradually over periods ending in 2010 to 2014. 
 In agriculture, Viet Nam has promised not to subsidize exports. It will be allowed to support its 
farmers domestically with trade-distorting supports (“Amber Box” or “Aggregate Measurement of 
Support”, i.e. supports that have a direct impact on prices or quantities produced) of up to 3,961.5 billion Vietnamese dong (currently about US$246 million) in addition to the usual allowance for PRESS/455 
Page 3 of 5 
 
 
 developing countries (known as “de minimis”) of up  to 10% of the value of domestic agricultural 
production. As with all WTO members, Viet Nam can also spend unlimited amounts on supports 
that do not distort trade (“Green Box” supports).  
Services: 
‘Schedule of Specific Commitm ents on Trade in Services’  
Viet Nam has made commitments on a range of services. In some cases Viet Nam reserves the 
right to limit foreign ownership of service companies operating in Viet Nam — for example in some 
telecommunications services the eventual limits ca n be 49% or 65%, depending on the service. In 
a few cases, permitted foreign ownership is immediately 100% (for example accountancy). In 
many cases, the permitted foreign ownership is phased in to reach 100% after a few years (for 
example express delivery courier services after five years).  
As is normal in this sector, the effect of the commitments depends also on complex relationships 
with domestic regulations — for example in the first two years, 100%-foreign-owned architectural 
firms can only serve foreign companies. The commi tments and some of the regulations are in the 
“schedule” (lists) of commitments; other information on the regulations is in the working party 
report.  
The working party report: 
‘Report of the Working Party on  the Accession of Viet Nam’  
The working party report outlines the economic context, and the institutional and legal framework. 
It includes Viet Nam’s commitments to undertake reforms or to preserve reforms that have been 
introduced in order to secure membership. Among the commitments are:  
Foreign exchange : Viet Nam will abide by IMF and WTO rules 
 
State enterprises : commercial business (i.e. except for supplying the government) will be 
conducted on commercial terms without interferen ce from the government. A number of products 
are listed as subject to state trading enterprises because of consumption restrictions, for cultural and moral reasons, or because they are “natural monopolies”: tobacco products, petroleum, 
cultural products such as newspapers, journals and audio-visual materials, and aircraft 
 
Privatization and equitization of state enterprises : this will be handled transparently, with 
Viet Nam supplying annual reports while the programme lasts 
 
Pricing and price controls : Viet Nam will comply with WTO agreements and notify the WTO of 
actions it takes to control prices 
 
Policy-making and enforcing framework : a number of administrative and legal structures have 
been introduced or strengthened so that WTO provisions are applied, including the possibility of 
investigation and judicial review to deal with complaints about this 
 
Trading rights (the right to import and export) : this was a subject of tough negotiations 
partly because of different registration procedures  for foreign and domestic traders. A new law has 
now harmonized the procedure for both. 
 PRESS/455 
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 Among the many additional details are a commitment that all foreign firms and individuals will be 
able to engage in importing and exporting as importers/exporters “of record” so long as they 
register, and importers will be able to choose their domestic distributors 
 
Excise duties : the different duties charged on alcoholic drinks attracted particular attention in the 
negotiations. Viet Nam has agreed to simplify the structure within three years by applying a single rate for all forms of beer and a single rate for al l spirits containing 20% alcohol or more. This has 
allayed concerns from some countries that the previous structure might discriminate against 
imported beers that have different packaging, or against imported spirits with higher alcohol content 
 
Quantitative and other restrictions : quotas, bans and other restrictions will be abolished, 
including import bans on cigarettes, cigars and used vehicles, or only applied according to WTO 
rules 
 
WTO agreements dealing with rules : Viet Nam will comply with the Customs Valuation, Rules 
of Origin, Pre-shipment Inspection, Anti-dumping, Safeguards, Subsidies, and Trade-Related 
Investment Measures agreements, with some provisions phased in over a period 
 
Export restrictions : Viet Nam maintains export controls on some products such as rice, and 
some wood products and minerals (to prevent illegal exploitation). It is pledging to apply controls 
on these products in a way that conforms with WTO agreements 
 
Standards : Viet Nam will apply the Technical Barriers to Trade, and Sanitary and Phytosanitary 
Measures agreements without a transition period 
 
Government procurement : Viet Nam will consider signing the Government Procurement 
Agreement after it has become a WTO member 
 
Intellectual property : almost 33 pages of the report describe in detail the administrative and 
legal set up in the country. Viet Nam will comply with the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual 
Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement immediately, without any transition period 
 
Next  
The 7 November 2006 General Council decision completes the process as far as existing WTO 
members are concerned. The remaining steps are Viet Nam’s:  
• Viet Nam ratifies the deal 
• Viet Nam informs the WTO that it has ratified 
• Viet Nam becomes a member 30 days after notifying that it has ratified 
 
Background  
Working party members : Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Br unei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, 
Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Dominica n Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, European Union 
and member states, Honduras, Hong Kong China, Ic eland, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of 
Korea, Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, Mexico, Moro cco, Myanmar, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, 
Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, 
Thailand, Turkey, United States, Uruguay PRESS/455 
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Chairs : 1998–2004, H.E. Seung Ho (Republic of Kore a); 2005–2006, Ambassador Eirik Glenne 
(Norway)  
Viet Nam’s Working Party was established on 31 January 1995 and met 14 times between 
July 1998 and October 2006.  
Find out more: 
• Viet Nam (including links to  the membership documents) 
http://www.wto.org/english/thew to_e/acc_e/a1_vietnam_e.htm  
• Viet Nam’s trade profile: 
http://stat.wto.org/CountryProfile/WSDBCo untryPFView.aspx?Language=E&Country=VN   
• Accessions in general 
http://www.wto.org/english/ thewto_e/acc_e/acc_e.htm  
 
END