FACTORS FACILITATING AND
CHALLENGING NEGOTIATION OF
ENVIROMENT ISSUES IN
RTA/FTA/WTO
VIETNAM ‘S EXPERIENCE
Tran Thi Thu Hang
Deputy Director General
Ministry of Trade, Vietnam
OUTLINE
1. Environment issues in VN trade
agreements
2.Vietnam Commitments on
environment services in WTO
3. Challenging factors
4.Facilitating factors
5. Domestic coordination
Environment issues in Vietnam
Trade agreements
State of play:
 Vietnam committed to liberalize
environment services in accordance with
its GATS/WTO accession schedule
 Vietnam is member of ASEAN Free trade
area (CEPT) and joining ASEAN in FTA,
CEP negotiation with Japan, Australia,
India, USA… but no discussion on
environment chapter
Environment issues in VN Trade
agreements (cont’d)
 Vietnam engaged in more than 70
bilateral trade agreements with its
trading partners. But no provision on
environment protection or cooperation,
except the Bilateral Trade Agreement
with the USA (BTA) referring to Article
20 of GATT.
 Vietnam is member of about 20 MEA
where some trade related environment
restriction provisions are applied.
Vietnam commitments on
environment services in WTO
 Vietnam started WTO accession negotiation in
1995. The first offer was made in 2001 but no
environment offer was presented.
 In 2004, Vietnam concluded WTO accession
negotiation package with EU at the margin of
ASEM summit in Hanoi. The package included
environment services . This paves the way for
Ministry of Environment to make offer on
environment services to be included in VN GATS
offer in 2005
Vietnam commitments in WTO on
environment services (1)
Sewage Services (CPC 9401) :
 no commitments made on cross border supply
mode for market access and national treatment,
except related consulting services.
 No restriction on consumption abroad and
commercial presence.
 Apply 51 % cap on foreign ownership during 4 years
after accession. Foreign companies are allowed to do
business activities in Viet Nam in the form of buildoperate-transfer (BOT) and build-transfer-operate
(BTO).
Vietnam commitments in WTO on
environment services (2)
Refuse disposal services (CPC 9402):
 no commitments on cross border supply mode for
market access, except related consulting services.
 No restriction on consumption abroad and
commercial presence and NT.
 Apply foreign ownership Cap 51 % during 4 years
after accession. For public welfare, foreign-invested
enterprises are restricted from collecting refuse
directly from households, permitted to provide
services at the refuse specific collection points.
Import of refuse is forbidden.
Vietnam commitments in WTO on
environment services (3)
Cleaning services of exhaust gases (CPC 94040) and
noise abatement services (CPC 94050):
 no commitments on cross border supply mode
and personal presence for market access and
national treatment, except related consulting
services.
 No restriction on consumption abroad and
commercial presence.
 Apply foreign ownership Cap 51 % during 4
years after accession.
Vietnam commitments in WTO on
environment services (4)
Environmental impact assessment services
(CPC 94090*) :
 no commitments on personal presence for
market access and national treatment, except
related consulting services.
 No restriction on consumption abroad and
commercial presence.
 Apply foreign ownership Cap 51 % for
commercial presence during 4 years after
accession
Challenging Factors
 Mandate is not clearly defined
 Competence factor: Regulatory competence is not
clearly allocated and dispatched among
government agencies, especially environmental
services regulations.
 Political factor: environment services is a public
services provided at almost zero fee and
dominated by state monopoly. Liberalisation of
environment services implies strong resistances.
Challenging Factors
 Legislative factor: environmental and trade related
legislation is not completed and advanced.
 Management factor:
lack of common concepts about environment
services and its classification
Environment standards are not fully in place
and updated
Limited scope of environment services provided
in developing countries.
Challenging factors
 Coordination factor:
 Lack of coordination “mindset”
Limited understanding about subject matter
and its scope by regulators/players
Weak overseeing and controlling institutions
among and within parties concerned
 Not institutionalize new means of
communication among government agencies
(e.g emails, fax)
Challenging factors
 Consultation factor:
Limited public participation in agenda setting
and policy making due to: lack of active interest
groups, lack of knowledge/awareness about
environment issues
Weak role of business associations in tradeenvironment policies and debate
No institutionalized mechanism to take on
board views from stakeholders. No public
debate and monitoring mechanism after
consultations
Challenging factors
 Action factor:
Limited awareness of businesses about
environment issues and their responsibility
Weak enforcement of laws, regulations
Lack of dispute settlements
Limited human resource in trade related
environment regulation and negotiation
Facilitating factors
 Political will: Every year, the Government allocates
1 % GDP for environment protection (about 0.6
billion USD); about 200,000 -500,000 USD/year
for trade related environment issues research
 Common framework for actions or strategy is set,
e.g 5 year Government Action Plan.
 Social constituency
 Active public campaign, awareness raising by local
authorities and environment departments
Facilitating factors
• Leading role of “success business” in applying ISO
14000 and creating environment friendly business
• Liberalize environment service ensures access to
better and more affordable technologies for
environment protection
• Environment friendly products = ease of exports
• Confidence building process through technical
assistance from donors to provide arguments on
the issues.
Domestic coordination
Coordination is institutionalized in
laws/government regulations:
 Commercial Law in 2005;
 Law on environment protection in 2005;
 Laws on government organisation in 2001;
 National Plan on controlling environment
pollution till 2010 and strategies till 2020
 Government Decree 2005 governing working
mechanism of Ministries and government
agencies
Domestic coordination
 Intergovernmental working group (Ministries of
Trade, Environment, Planning and Investment and
Finances) to jointly decide resources allocation for
environment protection and balancing different
priorities.
 Intergovernmental negotiation team on
environment issues
 Coordinated actions among government agencies;
central and local authorities are guided by 5
years/10 year action plans of the Government.
Thank you for your attention