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Drastically controlling the granting of certificates of origin for electric bicycles exported to the EU

Summary

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has discussed with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry on strengthening the inspection and supervision of the issuance of Vietnam’s certificates of origin for electric bicycles, notably, the risk of counterfeit Vietnamese C/Os.

Updated on : 25-02-2019

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Trade Defense Department, recently, the European Commission (EC) has issued a decision on the application of anti-dumping tax and anti-subsidy tax on electric bicycles imported from China to the EU. These tax rates are from 18.8% -79.3% depending on the exporter, and are applied for 5 years from January 18, 2019.

Based on the EC survey report, during the investigation period from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017, the import volume of electric bicycles into the EU was 940,001 units, of which the imports from China was 699,658 units, accounting for 74% of the total imports and accounting for 35% of the market share of electric bicycles consumed in the EU.

According to the EU’s statistics, the export of electric bicycles from Vietnam to the EU increased after the EU conducted an investigation on electric bicycles imported from China. Vietnam's export of electric bicycles to the EU in the first 11 months of 2018 was 138,467 units, with a turnover of €66.9 million, up 47.4% in volume and 22.6% in value over the same period of 2017, accounting for 12.4% of total imports of electric bicycles into the EU.

The sharp increase in volume of electric bicycles exported from Vietnam to the EU, coincides with the period when the EC investigated to take anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures for products imported from China, and that could lead to the risk of the EU conducting tax evasion investigations for a number of Vietnamese exporters, affecting the export of legitimate enterprises.

On the basis of monitoring the development of the case, the Ministry of Industry and Trade discussed with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry on strengthening the inspection and supervision of the issuance of certificates of Vietnamese origin for electric bicycles, in particular paying attention to the risk of counterfeit Vietnamese C/Os.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has cooperated with the General Department of Vietnam Customs (Ministry of Finance) to monitor and grasp the abnormal fluctuations in exports to some markets, thereby introducing measures to check, to verify and strictly handle fraudulent acts of Vietnamese origin in order to avoid trade defense measures, affecting Vietnam's reputation in general and the benefits of legitimate businesses in particular.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade recommends that Vietnamese exporters strictly comply with rules of origin certification, do not support the acts of origin fraud, and monitor market to promptly provide information to management agencies about abnormal signs in order not to affect Vietnam’s export and production.

Source: Customs News