Vietnam has agreed with the EU to apply an average import tariff of 24% for agricultural produce if it joins the WTO. For malt, the 10% bound rate (and 5% effective rate) remains in the agreement.

The European Commission has concluded a bilateral trade talks with Vietnam on October 9 as a prelude to the country's membership of the WTO. The deal concluded covers the commitments that Vietnam will undertake in goods and services once it accedes to the WTO.

Vietnam must now finalise bilateral deals with all of its major trading partners before the terms of its accession can be confirmed. The signing of this agreement is a major step in the process of Vietnams' WTO membership as the EU is Vietnam's largest trading partner (imported ˆ6.4 bn of goods in 2003, of which farm products made up 10%).Vietnam is currently conducting negotiations with the US, Japan, China, Canada, and Australia among others.

As part of the WTO accession process, Vietnam is negotiating bilateral market access deals with all interested WTO members. Once these bilateral negotiations have been concluded and the Working Party has completed its work on Vietnam’s trade regime, the Working Party will determine the terms of accession. These will appear in a report with a protocol of accession containing the specific market access commitments (in tariff and services schedules) of Vietnam.

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