Footwear is one of the export sectors of Vietnam and a sector that has great advantages when Vietnam joins Free Trade Agreements. However, these advantages can only be exploited when enterprises meet the conditions of origin.
At the conference on promotion of leather footwear export in 2015, organized by Lefaso in cooperation with the Trade Promotion Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade) held last week in Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Phan Chi Dung, Director, Light Industry Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade. In recent years, Vietnam has been negotiating bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements with countries and regions in the world. According to the commitments of signed and negotiated agreements, many leather and footwear products exported to the above countries and regions are subject to tariff reduction according to the schedule provided that the rules are ensured. Origin as committed. This is an opportunity but also a big challenge for Vietnamese enterprises because Vietnam has not been able to fully supply raw materials for export leather and footwear.
According to statistics of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in 2014, Vietnam will still have to import raw materials for leather and footwear - textiles and garments worth $ 4.75 billion, up 25.6% over 2013. In particular, NK leather in 2014 is over $ 1.1 billion, up 37% over 2013. In the first five months of the year, Vietnam spent $ 525 million to import leather. Import sources are mainly from Taiwan (China), Thailand, India, China, Italy, Brazil.
According to Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of Import-Export Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the leather and footwear industry is still importing raw materials from raw hides and leather to hats, soles, buttons and rings. Agreements to be signed such as TPP and Vietnam-EU FTA, the countries currently supplying materials for us such as China, Korea, Taiwan (China) ... is not Members of these agreements will cause many difficulties as Vietnam's footwear products do not meet the requirements of rules of origin and as such will not be eligible for preferential treatment. This is what businesses have to pay great attention to raising the ratio of domestic or content ratio of raw materials in the agreements that Vietnam is participating in to take advantage of integration.
The current situation in the footwear industry is that only a few enterprises are interested in the rules of origin, said Tran Thanh Hai, the biggest cause is the awareness of enterprises. About limited FTAs. Enterprises are not fully aware of the commitments in the agreements and how to make use of the agreement. For example, with respect to the requirements of rules of origin, in order to obtain a certificate of origin, the enterprise must meet the origin requirements by changing the production process, the supply of raw materials, Active part of the materials can be produced by the company itself or affiliated with other companies in the industry. If this is done then the possibility of taking advantage of the FTA will be enhanced ...
In the commitments of FTAs there are no terms that allow for grace or transition periods. Therefore, the requirements of Vietnamese rules of origin must be met. At present, some enterprises have been active in self-supplying materials. For example, Gia Dinh Footwear Company invested in the construction of clusters of textile, garment and footwear materials in Binh Duong. However, the output is low, especially not to create the spread for other enterprises, so also not meet the demand but this is also a good start. "On its side, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is also working to promote the finalization of the decree on supporting industries. Hopefully, this decree will create a push for the footwear industry as well as other industries that are heavily reliant on NK materials, "said Tran Thanh Hai.
(Source: internet)