According to the Import and Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), in the context that pepper exports continue to face many difficulties and great competitive pressures, the new generation free trade agreements that Vietnam has recently signed such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Vietnam – EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is considered as an opportunity to expand exports for the industry. pepper.
The Import and Export Department assessed that, for pepper items, the CPTPP has 9 countries committed to immediately eliminate tariffs including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Chile, Peru, Japan.
Particularly, the Mexican market committed to eliminate tax according to the 16-year roadmap for green pepper. Notably, among CPTPP countries, only Malaysia produces significant pepper; However, the export ratio is not much, only about 3% of global exports.
The Import and Export Department stated that Vietnamese pepper has a significant competitive advantage among CPTPP countries, especially for the three countries that have not had any trade agreements with Vietnam, namely Canada, Mexico and Peru.
For EVFTA, EU countries commit to abolish tariffs on pepper products (HS code 0904) as soon as the agreement comes into effect. This will be a good lever for Vietnamese enterprises to increase exports to EU countries, especially for previously processed products with a tax rate of 5 – 9%.
“Thus, for pepper, the market opening negotiations on tariffs and rules of origin have been well implemented in recent years,” the Import-Export Department said.
The Import-Export Department said that in order to make good use of the above-mentioned opportunities, businesses need to actively seek information about the Agreements in order to firmly grasp commitments between Vietnam and partner markets, especially the information on preferential tariffs, quality requirements, rules of origin of goods.
In addition, in fact, the price of pepper will depend on the type of seed as well as the quality of the seed (if the same type), so to improve the price for pepper, the core measure lies in cultivation and post-harvest stages.
The pepper industry needs to innovate its growth model in the coming time, focusing on quality right from the raw material stage to creating high quality products, participating in high value-added markets to enhance the value. , economic efficiency.
