According to data General Department of Customs, in 2023, rice exports to EU market reached nearly 104,000 tons of rice (higher than the quota of 80,000 tonnes/year) with a value of 71.7 million USD, an increase 10% in both volume and turnover compared to 2022. This is also the second consecutive year rice exports to the EU exceed the quota of 80,000 tonnes/year of EVFTA agreement.
Vietnam has been able to export rice to 26/27 member countries in the European Union. The leading is Germany with a volume of 23,328 tonnes, an increase of 49.3% over the previous year and accounting for 22.4% of the market share; followed by Poland with 14,726 tonnes, up 92% and accounting for 14.2% market share.
In particular, the amount of rice exported to many markets increased by 3-4 times such as: Hungary increased 12 times, Bulgaria increased 730%, Greece increased 483.3%, Portugal increased 425%... Among main market, only Italy, recorded a decrease of 78.5% to 6,876 tonnes.
Thus, after the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effect from August 2020, Vietnam's rice exports to the EU have had quite impressive growth.
This result shows that businesses are taking advantage of opportunities from EVFTA agreement quite well. At the same time, quality of Vietnam's rice is also increasingly improving and meeting strict requirements from demanding markets.
Affirming that quality of Vietnam's rice fully meets requirements of this demanding market, Mr. Ngo Xuan Nam - Deputy Director of SPS Vietnam Office - said that EU market is one of markets demanding very high standards. But, in recent years, no Vietnamese rice shipments exported to the EU market have been warned.
Notably, recently, ST24 and ST25 rice - rice varieties that twice won title of best rice in the world - have officially enjoyed preferential tariffs when exported to the EU market. This is considered an opportunity to increase rice export turnover into this potential market.
Currently, Vietnam has risen to 8th place among foreign markets supplying rice to the EU with a market share of 2.8% of the region's total imports of this product.
According to commitments from EVFTA agreement, EU gives Vietnam a quota of 80,000 tons of rice each year, including: 30,000 tons of milled rice, 20,000 tons of unmilled rice and 30,000 tons of fragrant rice.
In particular, EU will completely liberalize broken rice. This commitment help Vietnam export an estimated 100,000 tons to the EU each year. For rice products, EU bring the tax rate to 0% after 3-5 years. This has opened up opportunities for Vietnamese rice to compete with other countries when exported to EU.
“So far, European Union (EU) - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is truly a success story", said Chairman of the European Parliament's International Trade Committee Bernd Lange, shared at the press meeting on January 18, 2024.
Mr. Bernd Lange said that after 3 years of implementing EVFTA agreement, trade turnover between EU and Vietnam has grown by 20%. Tax lines for goods exported from Vietnam to EU have been lifted by 71%, while in opposite direction, 65% of tax lines for goods exported from EU to Vietnam have been lifted. A noteworthy point is that during implementation of agreement, the two sides have jointly fulfilled their commitments and obligations.
Mr. Bernd Lange commented that agreements between EU and Vietnam, including EVFTA, are "keystones and important milestones for the relationship between the two sides". In particular, in a world context with many complex changes, confrontation and protectionism still present, this is a very good foundation to promote relationship between two sides.
According to Vietnam Trade Office, Belgium and EU, EVFTA agreement is entering the 4th year of implementation, schedule B3 has reached 0%, schedule B5 has been implemented halfway, market opportunity for Vietnamese goods is huge. Many other countries are wishing to have an agreement like EVFTA to access EU market. Therefore, EVFTA will continue to be one of keys for Vietnam's exports to EU.
However, EU is also strengthening food safety management and trade supervision, especially tax evasion cases from third countries. At the same time, in January, EU also issued many residue thresholds. pesticides, mostly at 0.01mg/1kg, approval of food control programs of animal origin (Vietnam’s seafood, honey – eggs and milk are being considered) and measures of emergency and temporary measures to control food safety at border gates. These are challenges for Vietnamese agricultural products in general.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn