According to data from the General Department of Customs, 2022 is quite a successful year for Vietnam's rice industry when exporting this item brings in nearly USD 3.5 billion, the highest level in the past 10 years.

In addition to maintaining growth momentum in traditional markets, Vietnamese rice also expands its market share in fastidious markets that require high quality.

Particularly, to the EU market, Vietnam's rice exports to this market in 2022 reached 94,510 tons, worth nearly USD 65 million, an increase of 48% in volume and 45.5% in value compared to 2021.

This figure has exceeded the quota of 80,000 tons/year set by the EU for Vietnam under the commitments from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). At the same time, this is also the highest export volume of Vietnam's rice industry to the EU for many years

Previously, Vietnam's rice exported to the EU was subject to a rather high tax rate and it was difficult to compete with other countries that were allocated tariff quotas such as Thailand, India, Pakistan and other less developed countries that were exempt from taxes and not subject to quotas such as Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

However, the opportunity for Vietnamese rice to increase its presence in the EU has become more open since the EVFTA Agreement took effect from August 2020.

According to the commitment of the EVFTA, the EU gives Vietnam a quota of 80,000 tons of rice per year, including 30,000 tons of milled rice, 20,000 tons of unmilled rice and 30,000 tons of fragrant rice. The EU will completely liberalize broken rice, helping Vietnam to export about 100,000 tons to this market each year.

Since the EVFTA came into effect, rice is one of the commodities that make the best use of tariff preferences with an almost 100% C/O utilization rate.

Along with tariff incentives from the EVFTA Agreement, rice exports to the EU are also boosted by high demand from the region in the context of a drought that has negatively affected European rice production, causing many countries to look for supplies from outside.

On the other hand, a number of countries in the EU also tend to import more rice to replace the reduced wheat supply due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The increase in Vietnam's rice exports to the EU in recent years also partly shows that Vietnam's rice quality is improving and meeting the strict requirements of the market.

Kylie Nguyen