HCMC – The well-known Vietnamese rice variety ST25, which has just been recognized as the world’s finest rice by the Rice Trade organization, is now eligible for a preferential tariff for export to the European Union (EU).
Le Thanh Hoa, deputy director of the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority, said that in addition to ST25, ST24 rice also qualifies for the EU’s tax incentive.
Previously, the EU had granted tax incentives to various Vietnamese rice varieties, including Jasmine 85, ST5, ST20, Nang Hoa 9, VD20, RVT, OM 4900, OM 5451, and Tai Nguyen Cho Dao.
Under the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the EU is committed to allocating Vietnam an annual export quota of 80,000 tons of rice, with milled rice accounting for 30,000 tons, unmilled rice for 20,000 tons and fragrant rice for 30,000 tons.
Three to five years after the EVFTA came into force on August 1, 2020, import tariffs will be eliminated for Vietnamese broken rice, and a 0% import tax rate will be applied to products made from Vietnamese rice.
In 2022, Vietnam exported over 94,500 tons of rice to the EU. During the first half of this year, Vietnamese rice exports to the EU exceeded 58,000 tons, generating US$39 million in revenue, a 16% increase in volume and a 5.7% rise in value compared to the previous year.
