Vietnam will levy a zero import duty on 31 commodities from Cambodia |
Duties on finished pork products and unprocessed tobacco leaves will also be lowered. The tariff changes were made following a new decree issued by the government on September 14.
Accordingly, Decree No.83/2021/ND-CP prescribes special preferential import tariffs to implement a bilateral trade agreement between Vietnam and Cambodia in 2021-2022. The treaty establishes annual quotas for rice at 300,000 tonnes and unprocessed tobacco leaves at 3,000 tonnes.
To be eligible for the tax break, products must have certificates of origin (C/O) form S issued by authorised Cambodian agencies and must pass through customs at border crossings, as detailed in Appendix III of the decree. The regulation will be in effect from September 13, 2021 to December 31, 2022,
As both countries ramp up their fight against the novel coronavirus and its variants, bilateral trade between Cambodia and Vietnam topped $6.03 billion in the first seven months of 2021, increasing 106 per cent on-year. Cambodian exports to Vietnam accounted for $3.26 billion, rising 452 per cent on-year, and imports were valued at $2.77 billion, up 18.3 per cent on-year.
Unless virus outbreaks worsen or an economic downturn of unusual and unexpected proportions occurs, two-way trade should hit the $10 billion mark by the end of this year, as set by the leaders of both governments.
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