Hanoi to slash import tax on medicines
Xinhua, Hanoi
Vietnam will gradually slash import taxes on pharmaceuticals to an average of 2.5 percent within five years after its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) form current 0-15 percent local newspaper Vietnam News reported Monday.Specifically, 47 pharmaceutical categories which currently bear tariffs of 10-15 percent will see lower import taxes, the paper quoted sources from the Drug Administration of Vietnam under the Health Ministry. Besides tax cut in pharmaceuticals, average import duties on cosmetics are expected to decrease to 17.9 percent by the time the country fulfills all of its WTO commitments from current 44 percent. Foreign-invested enterprises and affiliates of international ones in Vietnam will be permitted to directly import and export pharmaceuticals. Now, some 60 percent of pharmaceuticals available in the Vietnamese market are imports, mainly from China, France, South Korea, India, Britain, and the United States.
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