Thailand is calling on Vietnam to ease trade obstacles on sugar products and facilitate drug registration as well as land transportation at border checkpoints.
Speaking after a discussion on Monday with Phan Chi Thanh, Vietnam's Ambassador to Thailand, Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said his ministry asked Vietnam through the ambassador to help relax trade protective measures on sugar imports from Thailand.
Vietnam said in February it would impose anti-dumping duties on raw sugar that originates in Thailand, claiming soaring imports are undermining its domestic sugar industry.
Vietnam's plan to reintroduce duties on raw sugar comes after the Vietnamese Industry and Trade Ministry conducted an anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigation that started last September, following complaints by Vietnam sugar industry officials.
Vietnam removed import duties on sugar imported from Southeast Asian countries in 2020 in accordance with the commitments of the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA).
However, provisions allow Asean countries to impose import duties to protect the rights and interests of their domestic industries against anti-competitive behaviour.
Vietnam is scheduled to announce its final consideration of the AD/CVD investigation on Thai sugar products on June 15. A combined 51% levy is expected to apply on Thai sugar, 46% of which will be AD and 5% for CVD duty.
According to Mr Jurin, the Thai government also called on Vietnam on Monday to relax complicated regulations on drug registration in Vietnam.
He noted that Thai drug exporters have complained that the generic drugs registration processes in Vietnam is more complicated and requires more documents than the Asean standard and the World Health Organization's requirements.