Vietnam and four EFTA countries sign free trade agreement in Hanoi on October 18; Norwegian salmon to get immediate zero tariff

Vietnam and the four member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) — Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland — formally signed a free trade agreement in Hanoi, Vietnam, on October 18. The two sides had reached agreement on the terms earlier this year. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Vietnamese State President Luong Cuong, Swiss Federal President Guy Parmelin and Liechtenstein Prime Minister Brigitte Haas.

According to Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade, the agreement covers areas including trade in goods and services, investment, intellectual property, dispute settlement and sustainable development.

On tariff arrangements, Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that once the agreement enters into force, about half of Norway's exports to Vietnam will be duty-free, and within seven years this share will exceed 98%. Vietnam currently imposes an import tariff of up to 15% on Norwegian salmon and mackerel; under the agreement, salmon will receive duty-free access immediately after the FTA enters into force, while the mackerel tariff will be eliminated within three years.

Norwegian Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Policy Marianne Sivertsen Næss said the agreement will put Norwegian seafood exporters on a more equal competitive footing with rivals and support further export growth. The Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) also welcomed the agreement, citing benefits such as duty-free salmon exports, simplified customs procedures and strengthened cooperation between the two countries' authorities.

According to NSC data, Norway's total exports to Vietnam in 2025 amounted to NOK 6.2 billion (about USD 660.2 million, EUR 588.8 million), of which seafood accounted for more than half, at 66,000 tonnes worth NOK 3.2 billion (about USD 340.7 million, EUR 303.9 million). Salmon was the largest category, with export volume of 21,300 tonnes, of which fresh salmon exports were 7,900 tonnes, up 40% year on year.

Trade in the opposite direction has declined. The latest Vietnam Customs data show that in the first nine months of 2026, Vietnam's seafood exports to Switzerland fell 12.8% to USD 24.3 million (about EUR 21.7 million), while exports to Norway fell 4.7% to USD 11.62 million (about EUR 10.4 million).

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said the agreement is expected to lift these figures and help Vietnamese exporters tap higher-value markets, especially for processed shrimp, pangasius and tuna. But the association also cautioned that exporters need to meet strict food safety, traceability and sustainability requirements, as well as product-specific rules of origin, in order to enjoy tariff preferences. It also warned that better market access for Norwegian and Icelandic seafood could intensify competition in Vietnam's premium seafood, food service, hotel and modern retail channels.

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Le Manh Hung said the government will push ahead with ratification and implementation procedures and urged EFTA member states to complete their own approval processes, with the goal of bringing the agreement into force in early 2027.

At the time of the signing, Vietnam's exports of warm-water shrimp to China were still running. The General Administration of Customs' import and export statistics for August 2026 show that imports of warm-water shrimp from Vietnam (penaeid shrimp, under customs commodity classification HS 0306.17) that month totaled 1,023.463 tonnes, valued at USD 8,055,485.0, at an average price of USD 7,870.81 per tonne; the same statistics contain another record showing an import value of USD 6,418,131.0 and an average price of USD 7,719.52 per tonne, and the two average price figures are inconsistent.