The Multilateral Trade Assistance Project (MUTRAP), the APEC Economic Integration Program, and European and Canadian experts organized a workshop introducing WTO dispute settlement procedures in Ho Chi Minh City May 17.
Some 100 experts and officials gathered at the two-day seminar to learn about WTO rules on settling trade disputes that Vietnam is expected to face following its global integration.
It aims to build capacity among Vietnamese Government officials, private lawyers, arbitrators, businesses, academics and others in relation to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.
The seminar is part of the Second Multilateral Trade Policy Assistance Project (MUTRAP II) worth US$7.35 million, jointly carried out by the Ministry of Trade (MoT) and the European Commission (EC) since 2005 to help Vietnam integrate into the global trading system.
According to MUTRAP expert Paolo R.Vergano, having full WTO membership, Vietnam will not only face trade disputes in anti-dumping cases, but also others regarding quality, trademarks, food safety and hygiene, business rights and unhealthy competition.
Therefore, local enterprises should understand WTO rules to avoid possible trade disputes, he said.
From 1995 to 2005, WTO members pursued 2,840 anti-dumping cases, of which 1,804 (63.52 per cent) were proven legitimate and imposed anti-dumping measures, according to the Ministry of Trade. And around 2,602 products were cited for price dumping during the period.
Since 1994, Vietnam has faced 28 lawsuits, including 23 anti-dumping cases and five safeguarded ones. The country has so far lost most of these cases. (Vietnam Economic Times, Youth, VNS)
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