HCMC – Vietnamese rice exports to the North European market surged 73% between 2017 and 2021 annually, backed by the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
In 2021, Northern European countries purchased around 5,646 tons of Vietnamese rice worth US$5.51 million, according to the Vietnam Trade Office in Sweden (concurrently Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Latvia).
Since 2019, when the office started preparing for the EVFTA launch in August 2020, Swedish imports of Vietnamese grains have grown dramatically, from US$100,000 in 2019 to US$2.8 million in 2021.
Revenues from rice shipments to Norway rose from US$1.8 million in 2018 to US$2.3 million in 2021, while rice exports to Denmark increased to US$394,000 in 2021.
For Vietnamese exporters, Northern Europe and the rest of Europe remain promising but competition will be tough due to the high requirements for quality.
The EU has introduced guidelines that imported products satisfy the standards for Maximum Residue Levels from 2023 to 2025. Non-EU members Norway and Iceland also follow the regulation.
