Southeast Asia Information Port (www.dnyxxg.com) – The European Union (EU) recently announced a 50% increase in the number of food safety and sanitary phytosanitary (SPS) inspections on imported products from non-EU countries, and a 33% increase in audits of border checkpoints in member states. This measure requires Vietnamese enterprises to place greater emphasis on product quality to meet export requirements.
Tran Ngoc Quan, Vietnam's Commercial Counselor to Belgium and the EU, stated that Vietnam is currently the EU's 17th largest trading partner. Vietnam's market share in total EU imports has steadily increased, rising from 1.8% in 2023 to 2.28% in 2024, including a wide range of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products. From August 2025, the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) will enter its fifth year of implementation. With many tariffs being reduced to zero along the designated route, Vietnamese goods will continue to enjoy a price competitive advantage in the EU market.
In the first 11 months of 2025, Vietnamese coffee exports to the EU market maintained positive growth. Exports to Germany exceeded US$1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 97.5%; exports to Italy reached US$615.8 million, a year-on-year increase of 52.9%. Currently, the EU is Vietnam's fourth largest export market for seafood products.
However, the EU is further tightening its requirements regarding food safety, environmental protection, and animal welfare, strengthening SPS (Special Purpose Product) controls, pesticide residue monitoring, and combating trade fraud. Against this backdrop, Vietnam needs to strengthen coordination and cooperation with the EU to promote trade facilitation, ensure the efficient implementation of the EVFTA, and support enterprises in adapting to new standards and requirements.
From the enterprise perspective, many large exporting companies have proactively increased their investment in international certifications, promoted the development of processed products, expanded compliant raw material production areas, and actively adapted to traceability and sustainable development requirements. Furthermore, Vietnamese enterprises are accelerating their business layout in the EU market, improving their logistics and warehousing systems to enhance market access capabilities and ensure the stability and flexibility of goods circulation. (End)
