Ha Noi (VNA) -- Vietnamese garment products exported to the US before January 11 may avoid the risk of being blocked by US customs under a recent consent decree between the Vietnamese Ministry of Trade and the US Department of Commerce, said Le Quoc An, president of the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association.
The two nations agreed to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese garment exports to the US during the brief transition period prior to WTO membership, An said.
The US agreed that garments could enter the US during this interim period without reference to quotas.
"The US will give special status to Vietnamese garments including allowing 2007 quotas to be used in advance for no-quota garment containers," An said, noting that the ministry would shortly issue more specific guidelines. Vietnamese garments exported to the US in late 2006 and in the first 10 days of 2007 will be granted automatic visas provided that the products are qualified and have clear origins, An explained.
He noted that the grant of automatic visas was temporary and that the garment industry still needed to work out strategic export policies to avoid the risk of anti-dumping actions.
Viet Nam begins being entitled to quota exemptions beginning January 11, following its official WTO membership. Since early December, many Vietnamese garment containers have been shipped to the US but faced the risk of being tied up in US customs.
Pham Xuan Hong, vice president of the HCM City Garment and Embroidery Association, explained that many domestic garment enterprises had wrongly assumed that, after Viet Nam had been accepted to the WTO, the country would be immediately entitled to the quota exemption. Therefore, may of them have shipped products pursuant to 2007 contracts with US customers without reference to import quotas.-Enditem
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