Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) have finalized negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), creating a foundation to drive trade and investment between both sides. Within the seafood field, the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) stated that Norwegian salmon will be exempted from import tariffs immediately upon the agreement's entry into force, thereby elevating competitive capacity in the Vietnamese market...

Vietnam and the member states of EFTA have officially concluded negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and EFTA, opening up a new phase of cooperation, laying a solid foundation for driving trade and investment between both sides, and concurrently expanding cooperation across fields of mutual concern.

EFTA encompasses 4 countries: Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. Both sides underwent 21 official negotiation rounds. The most recent negotiation round took place in Iceland from June 17 - 22, 2026.

On June 22, 2026, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan led the Vietnamese negotiation delegation to attend the EFTA Ministerial Meeting in Liechtenstein aiming to exchange views regarding remaining contents prior to concluding the negotiations.

According to the Multilateral Trade Policy Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), on July 2, 2026, both sides issued a Joint Statement on concluding the Vietnam - EFTA FTA negotiations.

Over the past decade, trade between EFTA and Vietnam maintained a growth momentum. In 2025, bilateral trade turnover reached 4.8 billion EUR, within which Vietnam achieved a trade surplus of 2.5 billion EUR, an increase compared to the level of 0.5 billion EUR from 10 years ago (excluding Switzerland's gold data).

The core export commodities from EFTA to Vietnam encompass electrical machinery, seafood, pharmaceuticals, and mechanical machinery. In the reverse direction, Vietnam primarily exports electrical machinery, footwear, garments, and mechanical machinery. These commodity groups all recorded average growth speeds of over 10% annually over the past 10 years.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, concluding the Vietnam - EFTA FTA negotiations is expected to create a foundation to drive trade, investment, and expand cooperation between Vietnam and EFTA member states.

Within this, the seafood field is expected to benefit from the agreement. According to the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC), the finalization of FTA negotiations between Vietnam and EFTA will create more favorable conditions for Norwegian seafood to elevate its competitive capacity in the Vietnamese market. When the agreement enters into force, Norwegian salmon will be exempted from import tariffs immediately upon entering Vietnam, while the tariff against Norwegian mackerel will be eliminated under a 3-year transitional roadmap.

“The agreement opens up new trade opportunities, but long-term success will still continue to rely on quality, trust, and tight cooperative relationships. Together with Vietnamese partners, we look forward to continuing to inspire about Norwegian seafood, contributing to elevating understanding and increasing consumers' preference toward Norwegian seafood, particularly salmon,” said Ms. Åshild Nakken, Director of the Norwegian Seafood Council for Southeast Asia.

Currently, Norwegian salmon is bearing a 10% import tariff against whole fish and 15% against fillets, while a number of competing supply sources have already enjoyed tariff preferences. The tariff reduction is expected to create more level competitive conditions for Norwegian salmon in the Vietnamese market.

Ms. Åshild Nakken, Director of the Norwegian Seafood Council for Southeast Asia, stated: “This serves as an important milestone against the Norwegian seafood industry and our Vietnamese partners. Being exempted from tariffs will help Norwegian salmon become competitive and more easily accessible to Vietnamese consumers. As the demand for healthy, high-quality food continues to rise, we see plenty of opportunities to create long-term value together with the Vietnamese seafood industry.”

According to Ms. Åshild Nakken, Vietnam holds a dual role within the global seafood industry, serving both as a strategic seafood processing hub serving multiple markets in Asia and the world, and concurrently emerging as one of the most promising consumer markets for Norwegian seafood in Southeast Asia.

The consumption growth momentum is driven by a powerfully expanding middle class, a rapidly developing modern retail system (supermarkets, hypermarkets), day by day higher demands toward high-end food, alongside the popularity of Norwegian salmon across famous restaurant chains and within family meals.

The agreement is also expected to bring benefits to importers, distributors, retailers, and restaurants thanks to creating more favorable conditions in constructing long-term business plans, thereby supporting commodity sector growth and encouraging investment.

According to the NSC, many Norwegian seafood exporting enterprises have already operated in Vietnam, and the agreement is expected to open additional cooperation opportunities between enterprises of both sides.

From a macroeconomic perspective, the NSC argued that increasing capacities to access Norwegian seafood sources can contribute to consolidating Vietnam's role within global seafood value chains, through supplementing raw material sources for processing and re-exporting activities; while concurrently creating additional jobs, skill development opportunities, and supporting the elevation of the sector's capacity.

The Vietnam - EFTA FTA negotiations were restarted from September 8, 2025, in Geneva and underwent 5 negotiation rounds. This agreement carries a comprehensive and modern nature, covering multiple fields: Trade in goods, trade in services, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, investment, intellectual property rights, trade remedies, government procurement, trade and sustainable development, small and medium enterprises, as well as cooperation and capacity building.

The agreement heads toward strengthening trade relations between EFTA states and Vietnam through eliminating or reducing tariffs, creating trade facilitation, and driving sustainable development.

Source: VnEconomy