According to published reports, Vietnam’s National Assembly voted on November 28th to approve the country’s membership into the WTO. As a result, Vietnam will become a member of the WTO on December 28, 2006.  Congress failed to pass the Vietnam PNTR (Permanent Normal Trade Relations) bill on November 13th but it is expected to come up again in the next session of Congress the week of December 4th where its passage is still not guaranteed.Â
Regardless of PNTR, the United States is obligated to remove all quotas on textile and apparel articles once Vietnam joins the WTO. The U.S. agreed to this measure in exchange for Vietnam’s agreement to allow the U.S. to reimpose quotas if it is determined that Vietnam is illegally subsidizing its textile and apparel exports.
CITA is expected to follow the staged entry procedures for over shipments during Vietnam’s final quota period. Under the staged entry procedures, any over shipments of the 2006 quotas will be denied entry until February 1, 2007 and then over shipments equaling only 5% of the base limits from 2006 will be permitted to enter each month until the over shipments have all been entered.Â
It is being advised that importers should use caution and assume that any goods shipped in 2006, even if shipped between December 28 and 31, if in excess of a quota level would be considered an over shipment. Only goods shipped on or after January 1 should be assumed to be quota free.
We will continue to keep you updated as new information becomes availableÂ
