WTO membership presents Vietnam with many opportunities and challenges like minimising international trade lawsuits. The Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Vietnam Economic Times) spoke to several leaders in the business world about this issue.

Dinh Thi My Loan, director general of the Competition Administration Department, Ministry of Trade

WTO members are committed to lifting trade barriers, including trade tariffs and technical barriers, to facilitate trade development among member nations on the basis of a level playing field.

However, during the DOHA rounds, dumping be came a hot topic for the participants.

Legal challenges related to dumping poses a big challenge to developing countries in terms of their global integration.

I can say that most of the disputes occurred around the interpretation of relevant domestic and international laws.

Even some experienced EU and US experts on anti-dumping measures have acknowledged difficulties in interpreting provisions Written in the WTO anti-dumping agreement.

In other words, too much power is given to each nation when they apply the law.

However, in my opinion, there are a few basic principles that could be applied to mitigate the legal risks of dumping in international trade.

They include information sharing among countries, accelerating the fight against trade fraud, good law enforcement, particularly the law on accounting and auditing.

Lawyer Do Trong Hai, deputy director of InvestConsult Group

Vietnamese enterprises face many risks when they become engaged in international trade.

The risks are caused by many factors, including poor knowledge of foreign laws, policies and international practices.

They may come from the mis-interpretation of the bilateral or multi-lateral agreements among nations, particularly issues around intellectual property rights and ownership transfer.

More recently, Vietnamese enterprises are facing the problem of trade marks. Some Vietnamese companies lost court cases over their trade marks to foreign companies, like the Trong Nguyen Coffee trade mark and the Vinataba trade mark of the Viet Nam Tobacco Company.

Other risks include trade and technical barriers, particularly to Vietnamese garment and textile exporters to the US, EU and Japanese markets.

It cannot be ruled out that some companies could be accused of dumping by foreign companies due to the lack of knowledge about foreign laws and international practices.

If such cases happen, Vietnamese companies should know where to seek legal aid. All these are potential risks Vietnamese companies will face as they become more involved in international trade.

Nguyen Thi Tong, secretary general of the Viet Nam Leather and Foot Wear Association

Vietnam has many comparative advantages in the shoe making industry. It is labour intensive and has a great export potential.

Though low labour cost is a comparative advantage, footwear companies are short of skilled workers who can operate modern machines.

Adding to their problem is the lack of information about the market, rivals and partners.

Facing this reality, it is imperative for the footwear companies to improve their sales officers' skills in negotiation and dispute settlement as well as knowledge about the domestic and international laws.

To help Vietnamese companies have effective measures to mitigate the risk, the foot wear association wants the government to quickly perfect its legal system in accordance with international law and practices.

It also wants the government to set up a national data centre so that the companies can retrieve the information for their own benefits.

Nguyen Van Du, head of the Legal and Inspection Unit from Vietnam Airlines

In international trade, complaints, compensation, damage and court cases can't be avoided.

Once the company is engaged in international trade, that company is subject to both domestic and international laws as well as the law of the concerned nations.

The impacts of the risks are diverse.

Vietnamese companies should analyse the risks in an active manner.

At the macro level, the government should accelerate administrative reform, legal reforms and other changes in order to come up with consistent policies.

It should also make sure the principles of transparency regarding the company's assets and representation are included.

Source: Viet Nam News