The Vietnam - Korea Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA) was signed on May 5, 2015 and officially took effect on December 20, 2015. In comparison to the ASEAN-Korea FTA (AKFTA), Vietnam and Korea give more incentives to each other in the fields of goods, services and investment in the VKFTA. However, VKFTA does not replace AKFTA, but both of these FTAs are in effect and businesses can choose to use which FTA is more beneficial.

Progress

• August 6, 2012: started negotiations,
• August 2012 - December 2014: conducted 8 rounds of official negotiations and 8 mid-term meetings, at the level of the leader of the negotiating team,
• December 10, 2014: signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the conclusion of VKFTA negotiations,
• March 29, 2015: initialed signing the VKFTA, towards the official signing of the Agreement within the first 6 months of 2015,
• May 5, 2015: officially signed the VKFTA

Full text of Agreement

Preamble

Chapter 1: General provision

Chapter 2: National treatment and Market access on goods

Tariff schedule of Vietnam (section A, section B)

Tariff schedule of Korea (section A, section B)

Chapter 3: Rules of Origin and Origin procedure

• • • Annex 3-A: Product Specific Rules
    • Annex 3-B: Treatment for certain goods
    • Annex 3-C: Certificate of Origin

Chapter 4: Customs administration and Trade facilitation

Chapter 5: Sanitary and phytosanitary measure

Chapter 6: Technical barriers to trade

Chapter 7: Trade remedies

Chapter 8: Trade in Service

• • • Annex 8-A: Financial Services
    • Annex 8-B: Telecommunications
    • Annex 8-C: Movement of natural person
    • Annex 8-D: Schedule of specific commitment of Vietnam
    • Annex 8-D: Schedule of specific commitment of Korea

Chapter 9: Investment

Chapter 10: E-commerce

Chapter 11: Competition

Chapter 12: Intellectual property

Chapter 13: Economic cooperation

Chapter 14: Transparency

Chapter 15: Dispute settlement

Chapter 16: Exceptions

Chapter 17: Institutional and Finance provisions

Others related document

Agreement arrangement for economic cooperation pursuant to Chapter 13 of the VKFTA Agreement