On 25th July 2023, Vietnam and Israel signed the Vietnam - Israel Free Trade Agreement (VIFTA). This is the first FTA between a Southeast Asian country and Israel and the 16th FTA between Vietnam and global partners. The signing of the FTA between Vietnam and Israel marks the result of the tireless efforts of two countries after a period of 7 years with 12 negotiation sessions. And It is more meaningful in the context that the two countries are carrying out many essential activities on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu...
OPEN SONG THAN - DONG DANG REEFER CONTAINER TRAIN
On 14th July, 2023, the Vietnam Railways Corporation held the opening ceremony of a reefer container train from Song Than station, Binh Duong province to Dong Dang station, Lang Son province, after which the goods were transferred to inland China. The train has a transport volume of about 900 tons with 21 Mc wagons carrying 40 feer reefer containers, a maximum length of 325 m, a maximum transit time of 72 hours (expected to shorten the transportation time after completing the repair and upgrade package of railway infrastructure). Reefer container trains have a closed refrigeration structure, so goods do not need to...
CMA CGM IMPLEMENTS PEAK SEASON SURCHARGE FROM ASIA TO SOUTH AFRICA
CMA CGM has announced a new peak season surcharge (PSS) from Asia to South Africa that will be effective from 21 August, 2023. The French ocean carrier noted that the surcharge will be US$300 per TEU and will be applied to dry, reefer, out-of-gauge (OOG) and breakbulk cargo. The surcharge will be applied from ports in North East Asia, South East Asia, Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan to South Africa.
RESTORE OPERATIONS AT MUONG KHUONG BORDER GATE, LAO CAI
Lao Cai Provincial People's Committee has just decided to restore operations at Muong Khuong border gate in Muong Khuong district. It is expected that from 27th July, 2023, activities will be restored at the Muong Khuong border gate (Lao Cai, Vietnam) - Kieu Dau (China) to restore import-export activities through this border gate. In the coming time, Lao Cai Provincial People's Committee will assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the forces involved in the management of Muong Khuong border gate to organize the restoration of import and export activities through this border gate. At the same time, the Management Board...
THE UK OFFICIALLY SIGNED THE PROTOCOL TO JOIN CPTPP
On 16th July, 2023, the British Government announced that it had officially signed the protocol to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) after nearly two years of negotiations. CPTPP has 11 members including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The UK Business and Trade Minister signed the document in New Zealand in the presence of 11 CPTPP member countries, making the UK the first new member and the first European country to join the CPTPP since it was established in 2018. The agreement is a big boost for British businesses, opening...
NEW EXPORT AND IMPORT TARIFF SCHEDULE UNDER DECREE NO.26/2023/ND - CP AND DECISION NO.15/2023/QD-TTg EFFECTIVE FROM 15TH JULY 2023
On 31st May, 2023: 1. The Government issued Decree No. 26/2023/ND-CP (Decree 26) promulgated the export tariff schedule, Most Favoured Nation (“MFN”) import tariff schedule, list of goods and absolute tariff, mixed tariff, out-of-quota tariff. 2. The Prime Minister signed off Decision No. 15/2023/QD-TTg (Decision 15) promulgating the normal import tariff applied to imported goods. The new export and import tariff schedule will be effective from 15th July 2023. In Decree No. 26, three main groups of contents have been amended and supplemented, such as: Converting the export tariff schedule, Most Favoured Nation import tariff schedule, list of goods and absolute tariff, mixed...